According to the approved law, Articles 4 and 27 of the Constitution would be amended in terms of welfare to add a pension for senior citizens starting at age 65 – which is already in effect – a pension for people with permanent disabilities up to age 65, from which age they will receive a pension for senior citizens; it was also established that direct support should be given to farmers who plant timber trees and to small-scale fishermen.
It was also established that the State “will guarantee the rehabilitation” of people living with permanent disabilities and that “priority is given to people under eighteen years of age, in accordance with the terms established by law.”
The amount of resources allocated may not be reduced, in real terms, compared to what was allocated in the previous fiscal year, it was agreed.
In transitional articles, the opinion orders the issuance of the respective laws within 180 days.
The Center for Public Finance Studies of the Chamber of Deputies estimated that 71,268 million pesos will be required to provide direct support and rehabilitation to people with permanent disabilities, an estimate that was supported by the Budget and Public Accounts Commission.
However, the drafting committee rejected the calculations and established that “it considers it preferable to attend to the interests of the beneficiaries of social support, for reasons of justice, solidarity and social responsibility.”
The debate was dominated by arguments about transparency in the use of resources for social programs. Thus, the deputy of the National Action Party, Héctor Saúl Téllez, recalled that the superior audit of the Federation observed precisely those three social programs for the amount of more than 4 billion pesos, the use of which is still in doubt due to double payments, opacity and unreliable registers.
Jorge Triana, also a member of the PAN, criticized the fact that public policies are not included in the Constitution and presented a reservation to include that programs must have “criteria of transparency, auditing, constant evaluation, which can be periodically reviewed.”
He also accused that the Sembrando Vida Program has been identified as the main cause of
deforestation, favoritism to companies like Chocolates Rocio and there are programs whose cost shoots up 200% more in operating costs due to the payment of 23,000 nation servers that can be used as an electoral army.
Mario Alberto Rodríguez Carrillo, from Movimiento Ciudadano, proposed that the Sembrando Vida program have polygon limitations and that no program affect the environment.
But no opposition reservations prospered.
