Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch said she is unaware that President Hipolito Mejia has requested the transfer of RD$530 million from her budget. Reportedly, the President has sent a modification to Congress that would legally allow the Executive Branch to transfer RD$1.2 billion. About 50% of that money (RD$605 million) would be used to pay wages. RD$389.6 million is to be transferred to the Ministry of the Armed Forces to pay wages. The Presidency would also get a large share of the funds for salaries. Ortiz Bosch said, “I am unaware of that number and I think it should not be that way,” she said, basing her opinion on what she called “the distinction President Mejia has for education in this country.” “You can be assured,” she told journalists, “that money will not be transferred from the Ministry of Education to another institution.” President Mejia says it’s important to note that the government is proceeding openly and legally in transferring funds from one institution to another… a common but covert practice in the past.
