Meanwhile, Senate vice president, Cesar Augusto Matias (PRD-Valverde) denied that he had sold his tax-exempt vehicle to Quirino, and said that he sold it to another, unnamed, individual. Hoy newspaper reports that the legislator had sold the four tax-free vehicles he received to dealers Miguel Cabrera and Pedro Ruiz Pina in Santo Domingo.
Legislators are entitled to import two vehicles, tax-free and without limits to price exemptions during their four year term. The law, nevertheless, establishes that the permit cannot be transferred for a period of two years after its issue. Nevertheless, it is a common practice for legislators to transact the privilege. Matias cut short his visit to Puerto Rico yesterday where he was to participate in an event with Puerto Rican legislators, to return and disassociate himself from the suspected drug smuggler. He said that he does not know, and thus cannot have had any business relationship with, Quirino.
The Senate vice president’s name is on the registration papers of the S500L Mercedes Benz that former army captain Quirino Paulino Castillo was driving when he was arrested for alleged involvement in the 1,387 kilos of cocaine on 18 December.
Listin Diario political analyst Orlando Gil writes in his column today that the publishing of the registration with the name of the senator affects the senator’s reputation. “It is also clearly shows how Paulino Castillo had penetrated the echelons of power, and the varied means that he used to facilitate his trafficking. It is not the same thing to ride a taxi as riding in a car whose registration is in the name of a legislator,” he writes.