In the letter of resignation from the Attorney General's Office,  posted on YouTube, Eduardo Ulloa suggests that he is leaving office because the justice system is "incapable" of providing solutions for the well-being of children reports La Prensa.

The rumor mills are in full throttle and, jurists consulted by La Prensa suggest that the issue goes beyond the scandal resulting from the abuses detected in shelters run by the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family (Senniaf).

Neither are they convinced by the argument of "media trials" and family sacrifice. For example, the former Accounts Prosecutor Guido Rodríguez says that Ulloa "knew perfectly the bronco he was riding", and warns that his "untimely" resignation could be related to something "more serious and delicate."

For Rodríguez, Ulloa (prosecutor until March 1) has a “civic and patriotic” duty to tell the truth: who pressured him and what led him to make such an abrupt decision.

Ex-presidents

Ulloa leaves the post with several pending issues: the prosecution of the Odebrecht case, considered the most emblematic corruption process of the democratic era, an investigation in which 100 people are charged, including former presidents Ricardo Martinelli and Juan Carlos Varela,  and the New Business case, which follows the purchase of the Panama América publishing group with alleged public funds, a process in which Martinelli is also mentioned.

Among the range of high-profile cases that are in the prosecutor's offices is also the bribery plot of the FCC company. In the Public Ministry (MP) they reported that in December they received judicial assistance from Switzerland, which contains revealing information for the investigation and that it even has ramifications with the Odebrecht case. It mentions Martineli and his sons and some family companies.

"The arguments raised by Ulloa allow us to interpret that he could not fulfill the obligations of the position and that is serious," says former Attorney General Ana Matilde Gómez. “What we don't know is from whom” these pressures come, she says.

 A tweet by Sidney Sittón, Martinelli's lawyer read: “When talking with Ulloa, and learning about his intentions to resign, I felt a man overwhelmed and powerless in the face of interference from politicians of government in the correct performance of his functions. He is a correct person and always my friend ” .

Former Supreme Court  Judge Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, now a commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, state that the attorney's resignation "has an important impact on justice."

Remember that the strength of democratic life and the rule of law are based on an institutional framework based on the rules, the Constitution, the laws, transparency, independence, autonomy, accountability and impartiality and excellence to ensure equality and non-discrimination in access to justice.

The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panama chapter of Transparency International. warns that " the attorney general must serve the citizenry, not power," and Ulloa's resignation "leaves more questions than answers."

“The highest official of the Public Ministry must be able to tolerate freedom of expression and of the press, which is part of the nature of the position. If you received external pressures, be they media, political, economic or criminal, you are obliged by law and personal integrity to inform the country and denounce them

Nine attorneys in 31 years, instead of the three who had to serve their 10-year terms, are facts that show the crisis and fragility of a justice system, which society already considers as failed” says the group. In addition, remember that citizens are once again facing the danger of the social cancer of impunity in cases such as Odebrecht, wiretaps, Blue Apple, FCC, and the more than 30 cases of corruption involving previous administrations.