Following Statements by the Minister of Labor About her Brother-In-Law, ANTAI Opens an Investigation on its Own Initiative.
The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) initiated an investigation on its own initiative based on the statements made by the Minister of Labor and Workforce Development, Jackeline Muñoz pictured above, before the Budget Committee of the National Assembly, related to the functions of a public official who maintains a family link with the head of the ministry. The investigation began on Thursday after Muñoz explained to lawmakers the situation of Edwin Cedeño pictured below, who is listed as an advisor at the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development and is her brother-in-law. The minister indicated that Cedeño is at the institution through an inter-institutional loan from the Electoral Tribunal.
After learning of these statements, ANTAI began collecting the relevant information in order to clarify the facts and determine, in accordance with applicable provisions, whether there could be any situation related to compliance with the Code of Ethics for Public Servants. As part of the proceedings, on Friday the authority notified Cedeño to present his respective defenses. The investigation seeks to establish the circumstances related to the functions performed by the official and the facts publicly presented by the minister before the Budget Committee. In another administrative process initiated ex officio, ANTAI decreed the removal of the subject matter after citizen Sherina Latorraca Santamaría pictured below, submitted her resignation from the position she held as a public official.
According to the authority, the resignation and the effective cessation of the exercise of the position constituted subsequent events that made the subjective basis of the administrative action disappear, that is, the condition of public servant of the person investigated with respect to the entities linked to the case. Given this situation, ANTAI determined that the object of the administrative action had disappeared and decreed the removal of the subject matter within the process initiated ex officio. The authority explained that this figure prevents maintaining a procedure when the factual or legal assumptions that gave rise to it disappear, particularly when a possible decision would no longer have practical effect in the face of the functional condition that motivated the investigation.
During an appearance before the National Assembly, Deputy José Pérez Barboni pictured above, of the Another Path Movement (MOCA) party questioned Labor Minister Jackeline Muñoz after it was confirmed that Edwin Cedeño, listed as an advisor at the institution through an inter-institutional loan, is her husband’s brother. The deputy asked if the situation had been consulted with the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai). Muñoz responded that she had made the inquiry, although she acknowledged that she did not have a written response to support the procedure.
