Under the Presidency of Shirley Castañedas, VIP Offices at the Panama National Assembly will Survive.

Nothing will change. The privileges that deputies like Benicio Robinson and Raúl Pineda, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), have enjoyed for several years in the National Assembly (AN) will remain intact.  For example, they will not be evicted from their VIP offices.  This was confirmed by the President of the Assembly, Shirley Castañedas, last Thursday in the Budget Committee of the National Assembly, when she appeared to present the $176.6 million budget she intends to work with in 2027. 

‘That Doesn’t Generate Expenses’

Representative Luis Duke pictured below, from the Vamos party, asked Castañedas what her plan was for those colleagues who occupied two, three, four, or five offices in addition to the ones they were already assigned. Normally, each representative is assigned one office in the “new” building, which was specifically designed to house the offices of all 71 representatives.  “What are you going to do about it so that all members of parliament have the same rights?” Duke asked. 

Castañedas pictured below, who that day was flanked by the deputies Luis Eduardo Camacho, of Realizando Metas (RM), and Manuel Cohen, of Cambio Democrático (CD), assumed a defensive tone, with a mixture of irony and a certain condescension. “Well, deputy, that doesn’t generate any expense, it’s not in the budget, and it doesn’t generate any expense either. Those offices are already established and they are here, and they’re used by some deputies who maintain more staff than others. Whether it’s because they create a legal department, an investigations department, or some other department, or because the office is too small for them,” the president of the National Assembly responded.

Shirley Castañedas, President of the National Assembly. 

Robinson and Pineda’s cells, for example, are located in an impenetrable bunker next to the parliamentary clinic, at the rear of the main building, facing Martyrs’ Avenue. It is a windowless fortress, permanently guarded by a special security team.  They have controlled access. Anyone walking around the area risks being questioned and expelled.  Another group of deputies, mostly from the ruling party, have more than one office.  Herrera promised to dismantle them, but he did nothing.

Contradiction.

Castañedas, who became president of the Assembly on July 1 with the support of the PRD, among other parties, offered shortly afterwards another explanation that contrasts with his argument about the VIP offices.  When Representative Yamireliz Chong, from Vamos, lamented the shortcomings faced by some offices, Castañedas acknowledged that the Assembly needs investments to improve working conditions and renew furniture and equipment.  Chong had described the situation from the plenary session of the Budget Committee.

Budget Committee. Luis Duke and Yamireliz Chong, members of parliament for Vamos. 

“In the Assembly of millions of dollars, we don’t have ink to print. In the Assembly of millions of dollars, we don’t have a decent desk. This is deplorable,” he added. The congresswoman recounted that the bathrooms have no electricity or toilet paper. “The conditions are appalling,” she said.

Justo Arosemena Palace, Seat of the National Assembly. 

“How can we, who make the laws and want to defend women, not give them decent working conditions? We have sent letters, because it is not only the people who come to visit who use those bathrooms; it is our officials who use them too,” Chong exclaimed. Castañedas explained that in order to achieve a profound change in the institution and renew the worn-out furniture, it is essential to invest budget in work and functioning equipment, since structural improvements are needed that exceed what the staff can resolve.

Shirley Castañedas, President of the Assembly, and Manuel Cohen, Vice President.

But, while the additional offices of some deputies, according to Castañedas, do not represent an expense because they already exist, improving the working conditions of the other offices does require a budget allocation.

Commissions Have No Place.

Congressman Ernesto Cedeño, of the Another Way Movement (Moca), is a harsh critic of the VIP offices and believes that those spaces could have another purpose.  “I disagree with having so-called VIP offices within the legislative chamber, because it sends a message of discrimination and favoritism, and all deputies are equal. I believe that a deputy should have their team in a single office, but maintaining several offices simply doesn’t generate additional expenses because they’re already there…

Well, that space could definitely be used for the technical team in the National Assembly of Deputies,” he told news media.  The deputy added that several standing committees face logistical problems and that some even operate outside the main Assembly building, in reverted areas.  “There are committees that lack good logistics, permanent committees. Furthermore, there are committees located outside the Assembly building itself, in reverted areas, and we could use that space to strengthen the institutional capacity of the various departments and send a message that we are all equal. That is the reality,” he stated.

What Herrera Said.

In November 2025, during Jorge Herrera’s presidency, this deputy informed the media, through a note, that “all the workspaces used by the deputies are part of the irregular administrative structure and are assigned according to previously established institutional criteria.”  The note also stated that the offices corresponding to the 2024-2029 period were assigned by the general secretariat of the previous administration in force until June 30, 2024, responding to requests from different caucuses and according to the availability of spaces for each political group.

Jorge Herrera, Former President of the Assembly. 

It was added that “some deputies maintain additional offices where staff support their legislative management, which were also assigned before the start of the current constitutional period.”  He also provided a list showing the distribution of the offices. That list, reviewed by news media, largely confirmed what Duke had denounced before the committee.  At that time, 17 of the 71 deputies had more than one office assigned to them between the main building and the Justo Arosemena annex. The rest had only one.  Among the 17 was, in fact, Castañedas herself. But Pineda had the most offices: four. Robinson had two, the same number as Castañedas.  Representatives Jamis Acosta and Ariel Vallarino, from the RM party, and Javier Sucre, from the PRD party, each had three offices. Twelve others, including PRD members Arquesio Arias, Crispiano Adames, and Nixon Andrade, each had two.

VIP offices at the Benicio Robinson and Raúl Pineda Assembly.