The Central Electoral Board announced that as of 26 January documents issued by civil registrar offices will no longer expire. These documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates will be valid, unless they are not legible. An extract of a birth certificate will now cost RD$180, and a civil marriage will cost RD$1,000 for Dominicans and legal foreign residents and RD$3,000 when these are held outside the office. Rates for non-resident foreigners are RD$10,000 and RD$5,000, when only one of the couple is a foreigner.
President Leonel Fernandez is appealing to Dominican women voters this Christmas. Fernandez, who is expected to seek reelection in 2008, has traditionally garnered the female vote. Now he has announced for Christmas the distribution of 800,000 boxes containing traditional Christmas dinner foodstuffs plus the government will pick up the beauty parlor tab for Dominican women on the 23, 24, 30 and 31 December dates.
As reported in Diario Libre, the program was first implemented by the Department for Community Development (DGDC) on occasion of Mother's Day this year when 226 beauty salons offered discounted hair styling service for only RD$50.
The Senate is expected to approve the new fiscal reform today without much ado. The reform, which has been generally rejected since it was announced, is part of the requirements for the IMF Stand-by agreement and needs to be approved as quickly as possible. Tomy Galan, president of the Senate's finance commission, announced modifications would be made to the bill received from the Executive Branch. The elimination of a RD$5 tax on fuel and the continued exemption for current companies working in free zones and existing tourist destinations could be among the changes incorporated in the Senate.
Presidency Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas says that once Congress passes the fiscal reform it will no longer be a topic of debate or conflict in the country. This is wishful thinking on Montas's behalf, considering that the reform has managed to unite both the public and private sector against the plan ever since it was announced. Montas however did point out that the reforms of 2004 and 2005 were followed by periods in which nobody spoke about the reform. Montas added that failure to pass such a reform would be playing with the country's economic stability. He continued by saying that people will pay their taxes and continue as if nothing has changed. Montas also assured that the reform will have no negative effects on the country, and is quoted in Hoy newspaper as saying that the reform will not in any way affect the country's entrance into the DR-CAFTA agreement.
Did you know that December has been the preferred month for fiscal reforms? According to Diario Libre, in the last 18 years most fiscal reforms have come at the end of the year and they point out two specific reasons. First being that reforms are passed at the end of one year in order for them to go into effect at the beginning of the next year and also because people are in a more festive mood and less likely to protest.
The government has announced that the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela has been renewed for 2007. Through the agreement the Dominican government postpones its payments of its fuel imports. The country is allowed to finance 40% of Venezuelan petroleum purchases, with a two-year grace period and 25 years to pay the bill, at an interest rate of just 1%. The DR has benefited from US$309 million worth of Venezuelan oil, equivalent to 11.8 million financed barrels. Each day the DR buys 35,000 barrels from Venezuela from a possible 50,000 that the country could buy. Hoy reports that the DR could begin to buy 45,000 barrels per day. Hoy also reports that the DR could also buy asphalt from Venezuela through the PetroCaribe agreement.
Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa has washed his hands off the Pensions Department fraud case saying that he has fulfilled his duties and that the case is now in the hands of the justice system. Bengoa is quoted in Diario Libre as saying at a press conference: "I discovered the fraud, I fired [people], I called the chief of police, I called Depreco [the governmental corruption prevention department], but now it is in the hands of the Justice system." Bengoa says that the Public Ministry, through Depreco will be responsible for the case in which an estimated RD$50 million were fraudulently disbursed to people who were deceased or not eligible. In some cases, people as young as 22 were receiving monthly pensions of RD$50,000. Former Pensions director Tulio Suncar and Sub director Isabel Soto Santana, along with 16 other people were dismissed from their posts for their involvement in the fraud.
Meanwhile, Depreco head Octavio Lister has denied that the fraud case at the pensions department has come to a halt and explained that he will present the case to the courts by next week. Lister, quoted in Diario Libre, has asked the public to be more patient, saying that the delay is due to the fact that the whereabouts of the main culprit in the case have not been determined, and that once this is known the case will proceed. He has publicly asked for this person to come in for questioning in the case.
The social aid program with the Solidarity card has not only revealed the sheer quantity of poor people in the country, but also the fact that many Dominicans do not have proper documentation. Statistics indicate that 14.3% of adults in the program have no 'cedula' identification cards and that 10% of adults and children in the program don't have birth certificates. The program is benefiting 772,526 people, with an average monthly expenditure of RD$550, of which 77,564 are without birth certificates.
A three-month investigation by the National Investigation Department (DNI) has been presented to the judges at the Central Electoral Board, revealing that JCE workers have been involved in issuing thousands of fraudulent birth certificates and 'cedula' identification cards. Diario Libre writes that documents were processed for illegal Haitians, baseball players, dancers and fugitives from justice. As a result, the JCE Administrative Chamber has asked for the dismissal of two JCE workers and the board's secretaries in Boca Chica and Santo Domingo North.
State prosecutors will appeal the decision of Judge Jose Duverge Mejia who chose to set bail for RD$100,000 for Puerto Rican Jose Antonio David Colon, and Dominicans Federico Castillo Papua, Edickson Javier Maria and Francisco Amaury Simon, requiring only that these come before the adjunct prosecutor Isidro Vasquez Pena on Fridays. The Coordinator of the Department of Investigations of Trafficking and Consumption of Drugs of the National District Prosecution Office, Gustavo de los Santos Coll feels the group would become fugitive of the law.
Following the appeal, the foursome were not released from jail. They had been arrested during an operation in which 340 packages of pure cocaine (388 kilos) estimated at US$10 million were confiscated at the Club Gallistico el 32 cockfighting club on 14 December near Villa Altagracia. They claim innocence. Roberto Lebron, spokesman for the National Department for the Control of Drugs (DNCD) said that while judges' decisions are theirs to make, in this case there is definitive proof of the foursome's complicity.
Hoy newspaper reported today that Dannerys Encarnacion Medina, the owner of the cockfighting club where the cocaine was found had been sent to justice in 2002 for another 400 kilos found on his property. Encarnacion, along with Colombian Giovanni Rafael Vega Vergara and Jose Ramon and Wady Basora, are also implicated in this case.
Telecom equipment that allows for communication between Orange and Verizon phones was affected yesterday, affecting telephone service yesterday. The Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel) was awaiting an official communication from Verizon yesterday, as reported in Diario Libre.
The Dominican Republic is asking the AES Corporation to clean up the fly ash that was dumped in Samana and Manzanillo, and prefers an out-of-court settlement. But if a deal is not reached ahead of time the government is preparing to take its case to the US federal court. Hoy reports that last week a Federal Judge in Virginia decided that the DR could sue AES for bringing 80,000 tons of ash into the country, in violation of environmental laws and endangering the health of people in the area. The country however will not be allowed to sue for effects on the tourist sector or on health sector. On 21 December, Federal Judge Gerard Bruce Lee will set a date for the initial hearing. The Dominican government has said that the preferred date would be18 January 2007.
In a scene straight out of movie, last night police officials and a SWAT team saved two children who were being held hostage by a man only identified as "the Major." Hoy reports that the Major had been followed by police from the 45th kilometer of the Duarte Highway and even shot at a patrol vehicle. The Major eventually made his way to Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo where he entered a home and took two children hostage. He was accompanied by two women at the time. After an hour of negotiations the Major agreed to let the children go and turned himself in. The Major, who received the name because he had been seen walking around in military gear, had his Mitsubishi Montero confiscated, along with the military uniforms in his possession and a 9-millimeter gun. No word on where he got the gear or the official military license plate on his SUV. Police Chief Bernardo Santana Paez told Hoy that the Major had been arrested for murder and impersonation in the past, and was wanted in connection with the robbery of a savings and loans branch.
The US embassy in the DR has donated US$30,000 in equipment and computer software to the anti-Money Laundering Unit at the Attorney General's office. US ambassador to the DR Hans H. Hertell says that any initiative directed against money laundering directly attacks drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime, and that fighting these is a priority in bi-lateral relations between both countries.
The campaign to eradicate the German measles (rubella) succeeded in immunizing 5.3 million people in 23 days, and now 95% of the population is protected against the disease. During one day more than 500,000 were vaccinated, as part of the nationwide campaign by the Ministry of Health.
The much-anticipated concert by Latin pop star Shakira is almost here and tonight's show will be the last stop on Shakira's six-month world tour. Shakira arrived in country on Saturday accompanied by her parents, her boyfriend and a 65-person crew. The show has been months in the making and preparations at the Olympic Stadium have gone on for two weeks. Doors open at 4pm, with music by opening act Papolo Sonoro. Shakira is scheduled to take the stage at 8:20 and will perform for 1 hour and 15 minutes followed by a fireworks display that reportedly will be able to be seen from all around Santo Domingo city.
Dominican boxing champ Joan Guzman kept his promise when he won his bout against American Antonio Davis by unanimous decision last night. In front of a crowd of 8,000 fans, light heavyweight champ Guzman took the fight into the 12th round, giving the fans on hand a great show. Although Guzman won the fight there were moments that worried his fans. In the fifth round Davis connected on a few punches and opened up a cut above Guzman's left eye. The cut continued to bleed, forcing referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight so that Guzman could get it checked. The cut went on to swell, but it wasn't enough to stop Guzman's championship run.
There were no games last night, but the regular baseball season is slowly coming to an end. No team has managed to secure the last spot in the post season and only four games separate the Estrellas, Azucareros and Escogido. The Estrellas hold their playoff destiny in their hands. They are in the driver's seat since they only need three games in order to clinch the last spot in the round robin playoffs. Escogido could squeeze into the playoffs if they play their cards right, so things could get interesting in the days to come.
Standings
| Team | W-L | Avg. | Games Behind |
| Gigantes | 30 - 16 | .652 | -- |
| Aguilas | 30 - 16 | .652 | -- |
| Licey | 27 - 19 | .587 | 3.0 |
| Estrellas | 19 - 27 | .413 | 11.0 |
| Azucareros | 17 - 29 | .370 | 13.0 |
| Escogido | 15 - 31 | .326 | 15.0 |
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