Investigation of ‘Ghost Jobs’: Protecting the Payroll Assigned to the Offices of the Deputies is a new PRD Proposal

During the second-debate discussion of a new legislative bill, the PRD proposed an amendment to protect the permanency of personnel assigned to the offices of deputies. This move faces pushback, as the Comptroller General’s office has ongoing audits investigating hundreds of irregular “ghost jobs” (botellas) within the Assembly. 

The Core of the Proposal

• The PRD Amendment: The proposal seeks to “blindar” (shield) the jobs of state employees who work directly on the operational and advisory payrolls assigned to individual deputies’ offices. 

• Official Rationale: Advocates argue that this measure is necessary to protect low-tier administrative workers and specialists from sudden, politically motivated mass firings when the administration or the representative changes.

The Context of the Controversy

• The Ghost Employee Probe: The PRD’s push to secure these roles is happening simultaneously with major investigations into the Assembly’s payrolls. 

• Comptroller Action: The Comptroller General’s office has been moving to file criminal complaints with the Public Ministry regarding “botellas” (people collecting salaries without actually working). Previous payrolls have drawn intense public scrutiny over astronomical spending on advisory and personnel line-items. 

A proposal seeking to protect the permanence of officials who are on the payroll attached to the offices of the deputies was presented during the discussion, in the second debate, of the bill that reforms the Organic Regulation of the Internal Regime (RORI) of the National Assembly. Currently, Article 36 of the Organic Regulations of the Internal Regime classifies the employees of the National Assembly into five categories: deputies; elected officials; Career Legislative Service personnel; officials of free appointment and removal; and temporary personnel.