This is also a warning. It was not just another speech, but a call to look directly in the face of a persistent reality. It is a child who does not eat well, who does not learn under equal conditions, or who grows up without real opportunities. Panama is not just growth and development figures. It also carries a more silent, but deeply painful reality: the poverty that marks the lives of thousands of children from their earliest years. Many do not like to be held accountable, but these resources exist precisely to address that painful reality. It is not an abstract figure. Yesterday, during the Eucharistic Encounter, the Metropolitan Archbishop put words to that open wound before the country and before whoever assumes the position of the Ombudsman. Child poverty is not just a statistic: it is a moral debt. A country that does not protect its children compromises its own future. That being said, every cent counts. This should be kept in mind by all who receive public funds, including ministers, deputies, magistrates, representatives of districts, mayors, and union leaders.
