Two former directors of the National Decentralization Authority (AND) during the Cortizo administration, Edward Mosley Ibarra and Francisco Vigil, have not only failed to account for their role in the so-called parallel decentralization scandal, but are now actively and ascendant in their political careers within the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD). While dozens of mayors and representatives linked to the corruption scheme face criminal proceedings or are behind bars, these two former officials are consolidating their positions within the PRD. The National Executive Committee of the PRD appointed Mosley Ibarra as National Secretary of Organization and ratified Vigil as Secretary of Community Affairs. The decision is recorded in a resolution published in Electoral Bulletin number 6,002 of March 30, 2026, which bears the signatures of Deputy Benicio Robinson, party president, as well as José Luis Fábrega, first vice president; Jesenka Espinosa Ríos, second vice president; Balbina Herrera Araúz, general secretary; and the six general subsecretaries. This raises the question of so-called 'immunity'. Article 305 of the Electoral Code states that secretaries and general secretaries of legally constituted parties cannot be investigated, detained, or prosecuted without prior authorization from administrative electoral courts. However, lawyer Javier Ordinola dismisses this argument with two premises. The first is that immunity applies while a person is a candidate for an office, whether popularly elected or internal to the party. The second is that the national secretaries of the PRD are not part of the National Executive Committee, which is the body where the positions of general secretary and general subsecretaries mentioned in the Electoral Code reside. They are auxiliary figures of the CEN, of lesser hierarchy, according to the party's own statute. Meanwhile, it is public and official that the party they served has repaid the favor with national leadership positions. AND hired the services of lawyer Ángel Álvarez to represent it in court. The cost, according to Panama Compra: $190,000. Ibarra never explained with what criteria millions were assigned to local PRD governments linked to Robinson, Pineda, or Jairo Bolota Salazar. In his administration, the first transfers were made to the strongholds of the then-ruling party. While controlling the AND, a position where he earned at least $6,000, he simultaneously received $4,748 as a teacher at the state Autonomous University of Chiriquí. Vigil, current Secretary of Community Affairs of the PRD, directed the AND between June and August 2021. The communal boards of Bocas del Toro, for example, received $28.9 million. At least $320 million were transferred to local governments controlled by PRD deputies and their allies, without oversight. In 2023, when the Comptroller's Office initiated an investigation into the matter, Ibarra filed a constitutional amparo for guarantees before the Supreme Court and managed to halt the investigation.
