The Senate investigation into alleged undue pressure on former Administración de Desarrollo Socioeconómico de la Familia (ADSEF) head Blanca Medina Díaz by Family Secretary Suzanne Roig begins this week. Jean Peña Payano, La Fortaleza’s secretary of public affairs, said at the Sunday 'Asunto semanal' press conference that the instruction for those cited is to cooperate. 'When a person is cited to the Legislative Assembly, there are requirements, there is a process, and the instruction is what the governor (Jenniffer González) has always given: collaborate, participate in those citations.
And, as I have always said, there will be no impunity for anyone,' he said. The first public hearing of the Senate Committee on Family, Women, Seniors and Population with Functional Diversity and Impairments starts Wednesday at 10:00 AM with Medina Díaz’s testimony; Roig follows at 1:00 PM. After being dismissed, Medina Díaz publicly accused Roig of pressuring and harassing her to evaluate a proposal and award a contract to Strategic Technology Advisors for a training platform she insists was unnecessary.
She also says that since arriving at ADSEF in April, Roig first pushed to approve a proposal giving a contract to NOLA Education for the Star Academy educational services program. Roig rejected the claims and attributed Medina Díaz’s exit to incompetence. Peña Payano said the conflicting accounts are reconciled by evaluating the evidence and testimony.
Hearings, under Senate Resolution 56, will be led by New Progressive Party senator Wanda Soto Tolentino, the commission’s chair, in the Héctor Martínez Colón hall of the Senate.