News
Tuesday 15th April 2025.
April 14, 2025
It’s been a turbulent Monday in the halls of the National Assembly . Not because of the discussion of controversial bills, nor because of a citizen protest against the work of the deputies, but because of the way the fortnightly salaries are being paid: with checks. The measure, implemented by the Comptroller General’s Office during an internal audit, has inflamed the tempers of officials and some deputies.
The Comptroller’s Office, headed by Anel Bolo Flores, is seeking to verify on the ground whether those on the payroll actually work in the Legislature or if they are the notorious “bottles” who receive pay without performing any duties. Given this situation, salaries began to be paid manually, one by one, under direct supervision.
As of Monday afternoon, only 25% of the checks corresponding to a payroll of approximately 4,000 employees had been delivered, according to Karina Connell , president of the Assembly Employees Association. That is, one in four employees had been paid.
“We disagree with what the Comptroller’s Office is doing. It’s harassment,” he told La Prensa , and went further: he accused the oversight body of violating ILO Convention 190, which protects workers from any form of violence or harassment in the workplace.
But the Comptroller’s Office has its own version. In a statement, it blamed Assembly President Dana Castañeda for “promoting harassment” against its auditors, who, it added, are fulfilling their oversight and transparency duties.
According to a report from the Comptroller’s Office in January of this year, the Legislature had 3,038 employees , for whom salaries of $5,806,000 were paid. The average salary at the end of January was $1,911.
Amid the protest led by National Assembly officials against the Comptroller’s Office’s decision to pay by check, the president of that state body, Dana Castañeda, joined the workers’ complaint.
Castañeda stated that Comptroller’s Office officials have been unable to deliver payments to Assembly employees on time.
“We demand respect. They haven’t had the capacity to carry out a decent check distribution, so I ask the Comptroller’s Office to review and rethink its strategy, because today it is humiliating officials ,” he declared.
The Comptroller’s Office responded to Castañeda through a statement.
“We deeply regret that, after expressing her commitment to improving the Assembly’s integrity, the president of this state body today walks its halls promoting harassment of Comptroller’s Office employees and obstructing the payment of their benefits. Instead of inciting this type of action, she should explain to them that what we are doing today is a commitment to institutionality and the well-being of the country,” he stated.
The National Assembly spent a total of $89 million 800 thousand on the salaries of permanent and temporary officials by the end of 2024, according to the report from the Comptroller General of the Republic .
This represents a 4.5% reduction compared to the $94 million 67 thousand recorded at the end of 2023, but these officials are still paid more than workers at technical entities such as the Ministry of Economy ($42 million), Public Works ($20 million), and MiAmbiente ($29.9 million).
The report details that the National Assembly had a total of 4,783 active officials on its payroll at the end of last year, while in the same period in 2023, 6,081 officials worked there , both permanent and temporary.
As of January 2025, the latest report available from the Comptroller’s Office indicates that there were 3,038 employees at this institution , and salaries totaling $5,806,000 . Additionally, the average salary at the end of January was $1,911 .
The number of employees and payroll costs at the National Assembly are being audited by the Comptroller General’s Office, which this week began issuing check payments to detect bottles.
This link shows who is appointed to the National Assembly, their position, and their salary: National Assembly payroll.
Bill No. 235, which decrees amnesty for political crimes and establishes other provisions, continues its first debate in the Government, Justice, and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the National Assembly this Monday, April 14.
The bill’s future will be considered starting at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday in the Blue Room of the Legislative Assembly.
The initiative presented by Representative Jairo ‘Bolota’ Salazar , of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), has provoked criticism from various sectors of civil society, since it could benefit figures such as former presidents Ricardo Martinelli , convicted in the New Business Case, and former president Juan Carlos Varela , called to trial for the Odebrecht case.
Representative Salazar himself acknowledged his affinity and friendship with former President Martinelli through a video on social media, after having presented the bill, which was even rejected by members of his own party.
“In the tough times [Martinelli] was with me, and now I’m not going to abandon him,” Salazar said, justifying the project on his Instagram account.
Article 1 of the bill, published on the National Assembly’s website, explicitly mentions granting amnesty to those sentenced and prosecuted in the New Business Case , as well as the Odebrecht Case .
The bill was supported, at its presentation, by 25 deputies, including the entire Realizing Goals (RM) party caucus and members of the Democratic Change (CD) party.
In the Commission, it must have the majority of the votes of the nine commissioners:
- Luis Eduardo Camacho , RM party
- Ariel Vallarino , RM party
- Didiano Pinilla , CD party
- Crispiano Adames , PRD
- Raúl Pineda , PRD
- Francisco Brea , Panameñista party
- Manuel Cheng , Vamos coalition
- Roberto Zúñiga , Vamos coalition
Various civil society organizations, such as the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, have warned that the bill could “dangerously open the door to impunity,” and have therefore filed their objections to the bill in the legislature.
On Monday, April 14, 2025, President José Raúl Mulino defended the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States amid questions that arose after the visit of that country’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth .
Speaking to Telemetro Reporta , Mulino stated that this is an administrative agreement on security matters that does not compromise Panamanian sovereignty or territory.
“I was very careful, and I told the Minister of Security and the Foreign Minister, that we should not avoid exchanges of letters, but rather administrative agreements,” the president stated, explaining that the document was signed between defense entities from both countries.
Mulino recalled a precedent from 1990, when the United States proposed an international joint patrol agreement to President Guillermo Endara, but it was rejected for violating Panamanian waters’ sovereignty. He recalled that an administrative agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and the U.S. Embassy was chosen instead.
Mulino explained that the Supreme Court of Justice previously stated that this type of agreement does not require approval by the National Assembly if it does not create, modify, or extinguish rights.
The president explained that the current agreement seeks to improve the training of police units in the face of more complex and technological threats.
“Our police units need to be better trained. That’s what this is all about,” he said.
Mulino asserted that the memorandum does not imply the establishment of bases or permanent residences. “This was neither a base nor a permanent residence in the country, but limited to the spaces that will be used from time to time,” he said.
He added that Panama unilaterally offered the Sherman location in Colón, currently used by the National Aeronaval Service for jungle training. However, it will now rotate through three entirely Panamanian facilities.
“The agreement does not cede sovereignty. The agreement does not cede territory to anyone,” he emphasized. He also indicated that the document is not indefinite and has an expiration date. “It has a birthday when it is written, six months before it expires.”
Mulino affirmed that the memorandum respects both the Constitution and the Canal Neutrality Treaty . In this regard, he noted that one of the amendments to the Neutrality Treaty allows for agreements after December 31, 1999, to establish bilateral defense sites between the United States and Panama.
The president said that during the process of analyzing the agreement, during Hegseth’s visit, he was accompanied by former Canal Treaty negotiator Adolfo Ahumada, who reviewed the document. “I have complete confidence in him, as I do in the entire team that handled this situation,” Mulino stated.
“I sought advice, and I was accompanied to the meeting with Secretary Hegseth by former negotiator Adolfo Ahumada, whom I hold in the highest position of esteem and professional respect, because he is one of those who survived those times that I can identify as the spirit of the law. And I held several meetings with him, and he helped us draft everything with the foreign minister, always under the premise that there is no base here, no cession of sovereignty, or territory, or anything like that. I trust him completely, as I trust the entire team that handled this situation.”
Finally, he noted that his responsibility as president is to maintain a stable relationship with the United States. “I cannot avoid, as much as possible, avoiding the country being portrayed as a country at odds with the United States. That does us tremendous harm.”
The U.S. Embassy in Panama released a video on Monday, April 14, in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth discusses his official trip to the country and his meeting with Panamanian officials.
In the video, Hegseth acknowledged that President José Raúl Mulino is a “staunch defender of his country” and an ally and friend of the United States.
He added that just as former U.S. President Donald Trump “puts the country first and fights for U.S. interests, President Mulino puts Panama first and defends Panamanian interests and protects its sovereignty.”
“We certainly respect the sovereignty of Panamanians and the Panama Canal,” he said in the interview dated April 9.
Pete Hegseth arrived in Panama on the evening of April 7 to participate in the 2025 Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC), an event co-organized by the governments of Panama and the United States.
He also participated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Public Security, which allows for “cooperative activities.” The same clause allows U.S. personnel to use facilities and areas designated by Panama to conduct exercises, training, or install U.S. property .