Panama City: Mayor Busted

THE BIG MISTAKE

Mayor Under Fire

DEIVIS ELIECER CERRUD
Story by La Estrella in English The Star
PANAMA. Panama City Council will meet again this morning to discuss the on-going investigation into Mayor, Bosco Vallarino, who has admitted requesting almost $5,000 in public funds to pay for his wife’s recent trip to Taipei.

According to Vallarino, his political opponents in the city council deliberately set him up for embarrassment and were attempting to tarnish his honesty. He was just following his civil servant’s instructions - it was “not a fraudulent act” but rather an “administrative error” made by a young and inexperienced administrative manager, he said.

The manager, Carlos Levy, has since been fired - though not for requesting the check, Vallarino said.

However, opposition city councilors at a heated town hall meeting on Tuesday appeared to view the matter differently.

They are calling for the mayor’s General Secretary, Arsenio Fernandez, to be fired for having requested the funds and for Vallarino himself to be censured.

They said his account of the request to use public monies for his wife was not complete and that the only reason he is not facing charges of embezzlement is because the Treasury rejected the payment.

They also said that there were other illegalities and irregularities to be clarified and that excessive payments were made to the vice-mayor, who should have received only 30 per cent and not the full amount of the travel expenses she requested.

!The fact that we’re allowed to get way with mistakes but not with public money, is not an excuse,” one councilor said.

Vallarino vigorously defended his General Secretary.

“I need honest people at my side. For me, Arsenio Fernandez is not negotiable,” Vallarino said.

In his defence, he presented three cheques for a total of $589,000 which were issued in the administration of his predecessor, Juan Carlos Navarro, that were also cancelled by the Treasury.

He said there was no further light to shed on the matter and called on the city council to”turn the page”.

The Town Council remained unconvinced by his arguments and has called on the City Transparency Commission to further investigate the events.

They are due to report back this morning in Panama’s Town Hall.