The Citizen's Ombudsman, the Veterans' Advocate and the Advocate for the Physically Disabled objected Friday to the La Fortaleza measure that would consolidate the advocacy offices, contending that it will water down services to the people, strip them of their independence to supervise the actions of agencies, and put at risk federal funds.
"We know the government is seeking savings in operations but it should not be in detriment to sectors of society that have been traditionally victimized. The state has the obligation of ensuring they get the best service," Veterans Advocate Jorge L. Mas Marrero said.
The proposed measure will create the Advocacy Offices Administration which will serve as support to the different offices, some of which will be transformed into other entities.
Government Committee Chairman Carlos Méndez said the bill will be substantially changed, transferring all of the advocacy offices to the legislative branch and eliminating the Advocacy Offices Administrator that would be created by the bill.
"We do not want any hybrid thing...We can be together but separate," he said.
The Citizen Ombudsman is part of the legislative branch but the proposal would transfer it to the control of the executive branch. Critics say this is a conflict of interest since the entity is suppose to oversee or monitor the actions of agencies.
"Any fusion, integration, restructuring, or combination of our agency with any other or any alteration to our administrative processes could result in a violation of the non-interference clause and our obligation to provide services with the result that we will lose up to two million in federal funds," said José Raul Ocasio, the Ombudsman for the Physically Disabled.
He said the integration of the agencies will result in the loss of the expertise needed to handle the groups of people they serve. The legislation calls for the advocacy offices to have a system of referring cases, which according to Ocasio, will result in more bureaucracy and hinder the services they provide. "We cannot pretend that a single system of social help will know the particularities that each advocacy office can handle," he said.
Interim Citizen Ombudsman Kevin Miguel Rivera said the proposed integration of the advocacy offices will "lead to more bureaucracy, more spending, and more delays in service."
While he said the government has a right to save money, "the legislator has to see if the amount in savings of the proposed plan can be achieved in the short and long range … If you increase the salaries of the advocates and create an additional office, you could end up spending more."
Rivera said the proposed legislation totally changes the history of the Citizen Ombudsman, which will now be part of the executive branch. He said the figure of the Advocate Offices Administrator will have control over the independence that each advocacy office should have.
"Remember that the main reason people come to our office is precisely because in the process of dealing with government bureaucracy, they have not received any service," he said.