The Minister of Economy and Finance, Felipe Chapman, confirmed yesterday that he will initiate an investigation into the alleged transfers made to some municipalities, following the complaint filed by Deputy Janine Prado about possible irregularities in the distribution of funds. "Yesterday (Monday) I saw the message on X from the Deputy of the Republic Janine Prado, whom I immediately called... The Ministry of Economy and Finance does not go into the minimum detail of the use of these funds, but my commitment as minister is to analyze and investigate the use of all those resources, and if anything improper is found, actions will be taken; do not doubt that, Panamanians", stated the minister. He highlighted that Prado's accusations are very timely. "That is not regulated by law; perhaps this is an opportunity to start regulating it", Chapman expressed to the media. He emphasized that the complaints have opened the opportunity to review the criteria for resource allocation, something that, according to him, has never been properly regulated in the history of Panama. "That is one of the issues we are going to investigate, for example, one of the things... is what criteria they use, for example, for resource allocation", he pointed out. Regarding the control of the funds, Chapman confirmed that he has spoken with the Comptroller of the Republic, Anel Flores, who will exercise the prior and subsequent control of this process. "We do it based on socio-economic indicators: income distribution, poverty levels, and employment levels in each region. Additionally, he reiterated that, although the funds were transferred legally, any perception of malpractice will be immediately addressed by his ministry. On the other hand, he noted that the criteria used to decide on extraordinary transfers are currently being evaluated and he recognized that the methodology is not regulated by law.
