Panama to Pay Late Interest on Withheld Wages from 1972-1983

President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, announced this Thursday that in June 2026, the Government will honor the payment corresponding to the interest for late payment of the second installment of the thirteenth month that was withheld between the years 1972 and 1983. This decision responds to the unconstitutionality objection presented in December 2022 by the then president of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, who argued that the Assembly was encroaching on the contentious-administrative jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch by imposing the recognition of payment of late interest on said benefit. Mulino explained that to execute this payment, Negotiable Payment Certificates for Late Interest (Cepanim) will be used, which have economic value and include the beneficiary's name, the corresponding amount, and the expiration date. In August 2025, the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) declared that Bill No. 727 of 2021, which orders the payment of late interest as a right derived from the withholding of the second installment of the thirteenth month between the years 1972 and 1983, was valid. However, the project approved by the Legislature sought to recognize, in addition, the payment of the interest generated between 1984 and 2017, when workers had not yet received this benefit. "So I tell all the gentlemen who picket daily in different places that this is already a commitment acquired and that soon they will have the amount of their interest from those years," stated the head of state. The ruling establishes that the National Assembly acted within its constitutional powers in approving the norm. Cortizo based his objection on the fact that the State had already recognized the return of the second installment of the thirteenth month withheld during that period through Law No. 17 of 1983 and Law No. 15 of 2017. He detailed that these certificates will be transferable, will not be subject to payment of taxes, and cannot be seized. In addition, in case of the beneficiary's death, their heirs may access the benefit through a simple procedure.