Family Department Secretary Suzanne Roig briefly halted her testimony before the Senate on Wednesday to demand respect while independent Sen. Eliezer Molina questioned her about the award of an invitation-only competitive process to the company NOLA Education to provide educational services through the Star Academy program. "For the past months, I have been attacked as a woman, as a public official, and at this moment I do not have a single accusation of anything, much less have I had to plead guilty to anything. I am before this forum. I appear with the utmost respect for each of its members," Roig said, her voice tearful, at a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Family, Women, Seniors and Persons with Functional Diversity and Disabilities.
For the past months, I have been attacked as a woman, as a public official
The committee is investigating allegations by Blanca Medina Díaz, the dismissed former head of the Socioeconomic Development Administration of the Family (ADSEF), who said Roig harassed and pressured her to evaluate and approve a contract for NOLA Education and later do the same for Strategic Technology Advisors. Medina Díaz, who awarded neither contract, testified earlier in the morning.
Roig has denied the allegations and said she attended with "commitment" and "her head held high." She demanded respect from every senator and asked for a five-minute recess, which was granted. She was accompanied by Carlos Rivera Justiniano, La Fortaleza’s legislative affairs adviser, and Nicole Báez Ortiz, ADSEF’s legal division director, who traveled with Roig to Louisiana in December 2025 to learn about Star Academy.
Molina, who denied disrespecting Roig, also asked why NOLA Education received the award when it had been registered with the State Department for only 36 days.