By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz González, along with fellow Rep. Héctor Ferrer Santiago, presented on Tuesday their proposal to consolidate the government’s oversight offices into a new entity.
The proposal was defeated in the island Senate during the most recent regular session.
“The system we have today to combat corruption does not work,” Ortiz González in a written statement. “It is obsolete, inefficient and bureaucratic. I will confront corruption, whether in my party or in any other.”
Ortiz González added that with the proposed reform the PDP seeks to “root out corruption and redirect the corrupt,” stating that impunity currently prevails to the detriment of the best interests of the people.
Ferrer Santiago said: “We are proposing the most profound restructuring in our history of the system to combat corruption in Puerto Rico. We will be creating the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Office, attached to the Department of Justice.”
He said the new entity would replace the Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel, the Office of the Inspector General, the Public Integrity Division and the Government Ethics Office.
“The more than 20 laws and regulations that are called to combat corruption are to be unified in a single structure and we will consolidate all available resources to combat it effectively,” Ferrer Santiago added.
The plan contains 18 specific initiatives, including the creation of an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Code, prohibiting “revolving doors;” establishing a new legal framework for the collection of fines and restitution of funds; creating the Registry of Lobbyists of the Government of Puerto Rico; and a special task force to prevent fraud in the Driver Service Centers (CESCO), where losses amounting to $30 millions were reported in 2023.
Ferrer Santiago also contrasted the PDP’s proposals with those of the New Progressive Party (NPP).
“[NPP candidate for governor] Jenniffer González’s team and the NPP represent more of the same,” he said. “That is the team of Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez and Thomas Rivera Schatz, who presided over the legislative assembly with the largest number of corruption cases and accusations in modern history. On the contrary, the PDP presents a renewed team that is aware of our historical responsibility to give the country a clean government and new tools to combat corruption at all levels.”
Ortiz González reaffirmed his commitment to fighting corruption.
“In my government there will be no space for those who see public service as a means to enrich themselves instead of serving the people,” he said. “Every dollar that is diverted through an act of corruption is a dollar that is stolen from the citizen by not offering them the education, health, security or social welfare services for which it was intended.”
“That includes, without a doubt, the members and associates of my party,” the PDP president added. “There will be no excuses, nor will there be exceptions in any case of corruption. This is a personal commitment for me.”
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