What was detected by the Superior Audit of the Federation (ASF) regarding possible irregularities or anomalies in the exercise of public resources by agencies do not represent acts of corruption, but are procedures to clarify the destination of the budget, said President Andrés Manuel López Workshop.
After the ASF exposed that there are 830 million pesos not clarified in the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) during the management of Delfina Gómez as head of the agency, the president added that “as the teacher Delfina is a pre-candidate in the state of Mexico , they are going to be questioning her because she is participating ”.
At the same time, he defended that “teacher Delfina is an honest woman, who has all my confidence, all of it, she is a woman incapable of stealing a penny. Nothing to do with old-fashioned politicians”.
She recalled that she was a teacher in Texcoco, and after being invited to run for the municipal presidency, “as everyone knows her”, she won the elections, and after being a federal legislator, she participates for the governorship, a process in which, “I believe that he won, but as a fellow farmer from Michoacán told me in 2006: you won but you didn’t get out”.
When asked in his daily press conference about said audit, he insisted that Gómez “is a woman of struggle, with principles, honest, that’s why I invited her to be Secretary of Public Education, and I have full confidence in her.” He pointed out that “surely” the use of the resources is registered and he trusted that they will be clarified.
Also, he pointed out that, “when the Superior Audit of the Federation makes an investigation, they are, as you mention, almost in most cases, irregularities, they are not acts of corruption. So categorical.”
He reiterated that the ASF estimated the budget needed to pay compensation for companies at 200 billion pesos when it was decided not to build the Texcoco airport, “and it turned out that it was half, that it was 100 thousand. Just imagine the difference, double. Then he cleared up.”
Meanwhile, after reporting different demonstrations by students and parents, due to delays in the payment processes for welfare scholarships at the upper secondary level, the president explained that “the number of beneficiaries is growing a lot, and nothing more in scholarships there are 11 million, while for pensions for the elderly, “it already goes to 12 million, and so we are talking about no more than 25 million beneficiaries.”
He added that “we are carrying out a whole plan so that the Treasury, the undersecretary of expenses, the federation’s treasury, prepare a calendar and disperse the funds to the Well-being Bank, which has to disperse 600 billion pesos this year, and now we have 1,350 branches operating, but we need 3,000.” At the moment there are 2,300 branches already finished, but around 500 are missing, some of which are in the process of being built and the land for others is being obtained.
Regarding the disagreements in the capital of the country in the process of awarding scholarships, he indicated that “we must schedule. That the elderly know when it corresponds to them, that the scholarship recipient knows, because if not, what happened when the scholarships were awarded here in Mexico City, many of all of them arrived, many scholarship recipients, and there was no possibility of serving them . The branches are filled, also, imagine what the dispersion of 600 billion is.
He asserted that he is touring the country to monitor the progress of the branches since while in the City “there is not that much of a problem, but most of the branches are in the most remote communities, where there is no internet, and sometimes you have to install until the light in the branches.
Although young people are more familiar with the use of applications and card management, older people are not, so you have to guide them on how to use the card, and “it may take time, but (it’s for) days, but no one is going to be left to owe what by right corresponds to them “. He stressed that the service will be normalized in July.
Insisting that the list of beneficiaries is growing, he said that there are two things that are happening: “it is growing a lot and everything is dispersing through the Banco del Bienestar, it will no longer be possible to collect the Senior Citizens’ pension in other banking institutions, because The Banco del Bienestar does not charge a commission”, but he clarified that “this move takes time”.
“The other thing is that we don’t want cash payments to be made, as they were done before,” because “they didn’t arrive, they stayed upstairs, there was a poke in the eye.”
Asked about the strike at the Colegio de Bachilleres (SINTCB), he stated that “surely it is being addressed, and there will be dialogue and there will be a response” because everything that has to do with public education is a priority for us”.