Retired muckraking journalist Marino Zapete defended the RD$190,000 privileged pension his wife, Dorka Quezada Felix, reportedly a 20-year employee of the National Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), has received. Pensions for regular people are low in the Dominican Republic, falling most of the time well below the last paycheck. Frequently, the Presidency authorizes attractive retirement plans to compensate persons in the government’s special favor.
Zapete recently retired from his El Jarabe talk program stating that he was leaving the job to the young people. Regarding the recent government privilege benefiting his wife, he said that he did not traffic in influence.
Zapete said that he had no official information about the pension, and that if his spouse had been awarded the pension as reported, it would be up to her to decide to accept the pension or not.
“I don’t think that my wife or anyone related to me deserves a special pension, because in my family we have never considered ourselves special and we would never claim any privileged treatment,” he said.
He maintained that Quezada Felix has been a public employee for more than 35 uninterrupted years.
“Currently, she receives a unified salary of RD$202,000 per month, RD$45,000 as a lyrical singer and RD$157,000 as the person in charge of the the Office of Access to Information at the Telecommunications Institute (Indotel).
Zapete has not updated the population on the outcome of his countersuit against former Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo. Zapete had denounced that Castillo had been involved in an irregularly signed multi-billion asphalt deal. Castillo and former Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez would sue him for the revelation. Once Castillo lost the presidential nomination to incumbent President Luis Abinader, the suit was declined. At the time, Zapete countersued. The outcome of this legal situation has not been shared with the public.
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Noticias SIN
27 March 2023