Santo Domingo – Payrolls are not things of the past, but are part of the new government.
This was confirmed in complaints received on the Special Report program with Julissa Céspedes, where three people living in Barahona discovered that they had been named in Educationbut someone else charges for them.
Usually, the payrolls, which were denounced in past governments, were used to benefit relatives, relatives and party colleagues. But now it is a network where they recruit people who only receive crumbs for lending their names.
Even the Special Report program with Julissa Céspedes received three stories that show how the bottles on the payroll of the teaching staff of the Ministry of Education you go beyond a common problem in that institution.
Recruitment began in February 2021. The bait was that they had to deliver a copy of the identity card to receive aid from the State.
But, the reality is that they would be bottles of the black box that is the Education payroll.
At the request of two of the three of the complainants, the journalist Julissa Céspedes protected their identities.
Ámbar Lisbeth Pérez Batista became a state official since March 2021. She did not know it, but monthly in a Banreservas payroll account they deposited more than 29 thousand pesos of salary.
“I did not collect the money, I had no knowledge, there was a girl who told me crazy, send me your ID on WhatsApp, I will get you help as a single mother. Then she told me to go to the bank, open an account and send me the card and I sent it to her, “said Pérez.
According to the information obtained, more than 10 women believed that they would receive aid from the State through a bank account. What caught their attention is that he had to deliver the plastic to Marislandy Félix Cuevas. She, this was the person who would collect the wages.
“She told me that it was through her husband who worked in the government. She told me so many things, you know that an innocent one at last, a help one I can. One might think that it is anything from the government that she has come to give you. I never thought it was a scam, because that’s a scam,” Cristina (not her real name) narrated.
“From the beginning when I saw that the plastic had to be given to him, I did not think anything good. I asked him why I had to deliver, they told me it was that I had to go up to Santo Domingo with the plastic to put a code on it, how something has to be done, I stayed calm, “explained the complainant.
The stories of the three young women are the same, the economic aid would be between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos, some lasted several months to start receiving it. Although they know that since March Marislandy Félix Cuevas was already receiving the money.
“From February 2 to date. I can’t say specifically how much money he gave me. I know that she gave me 4,000 pesos. At first she lasted about three months without giving me anything, then she gave me something, like in May”, explains Ámbar.
Those first months, which would be more than 100 thousand pesos only in the case of one of the complainants, ended up in the hands or pockets of Marislandy Félix Cueva. Although according to the complainants she is, she said that her partner Joaquín Matos Sánchez was the person with her contacts.
However, for the complainants, those responsible are not Marislandy and her husband, but rather someone older behind them.
Despite the fact that, religiously, on the 20th and 25th of each month in the account that was in the name of Ámbar Pérez, more than 29 thousand pesos were deposited for her being on the payroll as an instructor at the San Francisco de Asís Fe y Alegría Secondary School, located in the Cercado in San Juan, this was not the one who withdrew the money. If not that she only received approximately 15%. She changed this situation, even not receiving anything for months.
“In November he collected them all, he told me that nothing came of it. In October, November and December he didn’t give me anything, explains Ámbar
Despite the warnings, these three women thought that something strange was happening. And the rumors were already beginning to emerge. All three are mothers, all three have economic needs, and all three were appointed as monitors with salaries of 31,900 pesos.
“That is not clean, I am realizing that it is not clean, because they charge and bring you the money. If one is going to have problems with that, because at least I’m studying, I’m a teacher, I don’t know if I’m going to have a problem when, really, not because I didn’t know anything, they didn’t explain anything to me, that’s what she said, “he explained. one of the complainants.
In the streets of Las Salinas, Barahona, it was already said that the group of women who had been included in an aid for single mothers was a farce. And that the reality was that Marislandy Félix Cuevas, along with her partner Joaquín Matos Sánchez, were the final beneficiaries.
“I wrote to him, I asked him what happened to the money, because I already made trouble, he told me that it was going to come out in January. In January, I went down to Salinas and had already heard rumors. There was a person who charged her for two months, she told him to give her 10,000 pesos, but since that person charged her, she took it off the payroll, said Ámbar Pérez.
Ámbar Pérez refers to the case of a person who realized that she was using her name to collect money from Education, so she went to the bank. She there she asked for a new plastic and withdrew the payment of two months that she was in her account.
After several months without Marislandy Félix sending the money to Ámbar Pérez, he sent her 4 thousand pesos in January of the current year, but because the rumors were gaining strength, she decided to go to the bank to see what was happening.
At that moment, Ámbar Pérez realized that she was getting paid without working at the Ministry of Education. And that even though his name was involved, most of the money wasn’t going into his pockets.
“I went to the bank on Friday, February 24, and I requested an account statement. I reported the card as lost, the payment for that month was made on the 25th of that”.
“On Saturday, February 26, she writes to me. She tells me crazy I need to talk to you. She tells me you took the card, because I went to apply for a job at the meeting, for the reason that you put me on a payroll and you didn’t tell me anything “. This is how Ámbar Pérez exposed the scammer.
Another of the complainants realized that she was appointed in Education when she went to the doctor, and they asked her to pay a difference, since she belonged to the contributory SENASA, after several calls she found out the truth. The other, after hearing the rumors, she began to ask questions, and there they told her what was happening.
“There is another person who tells me that it is a scam. That one is named and that one is named in other towns that I have never even been to those towns. The person tells me go to the bank and cancel the card and you will see that they will stop giving you help. That’s how I did it, I never took out an account statement, nor did I investigate, because I really didn’t know what was happening, “explains Cristina.
On her side, Ámbar Pérez had an argument with Marislandy Félix, whom she reproached for having used her name for an appointment without informing her of what was happening. But according to the testimony, Félix was only interested in the money that Pérez received.
By March 2022, Pérez Batista was not on the payroll.
A huge effort was made looking for Ámbar Pérez in the Education payroll, but she does not appear. However, when we requested it through the SAIP in that database, the appointment was found.
The master minds of the fabric
According to the complainants, the people behind these are Marislandy Félix Cuevas and her sentimental partner Joaquín Matos Sánchez. Both appear on the payroll of the Ministry of Education.
Félix Cuevas is also listed as an instructor at the San Francisco De Asís Fe Y Alegría Secondary School, which is located in El Cercado, in San Juan. Even though he lives in Las Salinas, Barahona. So he not only recruited people, but also gets paid in education without working. With a salary of 31 thousand 900 pesos per month.
Joaquín Matos also appears on the Education payroll with the same salary of 31,900 pesos, as stated on the Comptroller’s page.
According to the complainants, the mother of Marilandys Félix Cuevas, Amilsa Dellanira Cuevas Ramírez also plays a role in this situation.
Amilda Dellanira Cuevas Ramírez appears in the Comptroller’s Office with two salaries of 30 thousand 664 pesos.
“If she has many years in that school. She was a teacher, but she currently won the contest to be a director, ”explains the complainant when referring to Cuevas Ramírez.
The complainants assure that since 2021 this family began to improve their lives. And according to these, compared to the purchasing power that these had before, it seems that they won the lottery.
By March 2022, everyone who realized what was happening was taken off the Education payroll.
Response from the Ministry of Education
The Ministry of Education reported that it is unaware of the situation denounced. The director of Human Resources, Lidia Ubiera, promised to investigate.
“We are open to civil society, in case it becomes aware of any irregularity of this type, it can come here to the Ministry of Education, with great pleasure we receive it and proceed immediately to investigate,” said the official.
Dilia Ubiera does not know how the appointments of a person could be made with only their identity card. Since according to this in the Ministry of Education a file of these designations must rest.
“It is a true case that is a bit strange, because personnel action cannot be worked on simply with the ID. Requires a Curriculum. But in addiction you must have academic support to be able to work the designation. And this is the file that is deposited in the Ministry of Public Administration”, explained Ubiera.
The director of Human Resources for Education will render a report on how the aforementioned situation could have occurred. “
Education Monitors
The position of monitor was created 10 years ago to meet the demand for teachers in schools in specialized areas. These include art, chemistry, nursing, mechanics, tourism, computing, and electronics.
These are professionals who have graduated from other careers with teaching qualifications and were hired for an indefinite period with a fixed salary of 31,900 pesos. And they have the same workload as a teacher in the academic area and they work in two shifts.
Monitors, unlike teachers, are not recognized all the rights that correspond to them as teachers.
Among them, the incentives that are granted for years in service, satisfactory evaluations and master’s degrees completed. They have requested the regularization of their status on several occasions and their demands have fallen on deaf ears.
By: Angela Ramirez
