Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 20,  2003

BAD NEWS: PANI budget cuts would affect those most in need, activists argue. TT/ Julio Lainez

PANI Budget Cuts Blasted
The Ombudsman's Office, children's rights groups and 10 lawmakers from four political parties blasted the administration of President Abel Pacheco yesterday for scheduling budget cuts of $9.7 million from the Child Welfare Office's (PANI) 2003 budget.
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Japanese Embassy Donates
Money for Liver-Transplant Device
The Japanese Embassy in Costa Rica last Friday donated $81,700 to the National Children's Hospital, which will be used purchase a Doppler Ultrasound device for liver transplant operations.
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Rain, Hail Interrupt Dry Season
U.S. vacationers who managed to escape this week's record-setting snowstorms on the U.S.' northeast coast may have been greeted here yesterday by a hailstorm and unseasonal rain.
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Chinese Healing Arts
Tai Chi, Chi Kung Energy Transmission Healing, Feng Shui, Taoist I-Ching Medicine, Herbs, Oriental Nutrition for body, mind, spirit, Dr. Jeff Nagel at Sol Café in San Pedro. Info: 224-3922, 283-5406.

Shadow Theater Shows
Get your ticket today for the presentation of "The Story of Kaguya Princess," performed by the Japanese Kageboushi Theater Company. Shows are Sun., Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Mon., Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. at Melico Salazar Theater, Av. 2, Ca. Ctrl./1. Info: 290-0203.

30 Hours for Humor and Charity
Famous Costa Rican Comedians invite everyone to a humor marathon to collect funds to benefit the Association of Parents and Friends of Children who Need Liver Transplants. Musical groups also play to help. Jokes start Sat., Feb. 22, at 6 a.m. through Sun., Feb. 23 at noon at the parking lot of Rancho Guanacaste, at the intersection between Alajuelita and Hatillo. Info: 252-1010.

PANI Budget Cuts Blasted
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

The Ombudsman's Office, children's rights groups and 10 lawmakers from four political parties blasted the administration of President Abel Pacheco yesterday for scheduling budget cuts of $9.7 million from the Child Welfare Office's (PANI) 2003 budget.

As part of emergency austerity measures aimed at reducing the fiscal deficit, Pacheco this week called on government institutions to limit spending growth to 5.9% in 2003. Children's rights groups, however, argue that imposing a spending cap to the already financially strapped PANI could spell ruin.

Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi argued that the cuts would cripple the PANI and render it incapable of fulfilling its most basic functions. The cuts, he argued, would most affect government programs that provide safety nets for the neediest children: the disabled, victims of sexual exploitation, street kids and the disabled.

The funding woes also would jeopardize the various non-profit orphan and troubled youth shelters, which depend on partial funding from the government, the Ombudsman noted.

"If the cuts take place, all that would be left of the PANI would be its offices," Echandi said.

Congressman Carlos Avedaño, of the minority Costa Rican Renovation Party, said that, even without the scheduled budget cuts, the PANI would still receive less than half the funding it is due under law.

If the government gave the PANI all the money it collects from taxes on cigarettes and alcohol -- as the law stipulates -- the institution would have a 2003 budget of $45.7 million, or close to twice the amount it is currently slated to receive, Avedaño noted.

"Since 1998, the PANI has been operating with only 40% of the funding the law entitles it to receive," he said.

Despite the increase the country's child population during the last two decades, the institution still has the same number of social workers and lawyers it did in 1977. PANI leadership has said it urgently needs to hire at least 100 additional lawyers.

"We're not fighting to protect an institution's budget, we're fighting to protect a large sector of the country's population," said Milena Grillo of the National Crusade for Children and Adolescents. "We're not asking for an increase in the PANI's budget. We're requesting that it be allowed to operate under its original 2003 budget and that no further cuts take place."

National Liberation Party Congresswoman Joyce Zurcher criticized Pacheco for breaking his promise to protect the country's youth.

"Children should be our top priority," she explained. "The cuts go against the Children's Code, the Family Code, several laws, and various international treaties. These agreements cannot be broken, the cuts must not take place."

Avedaño, Zurcher and eight other congressional deputies sent a letter to Pacheco on Tuesday, urging him to reconsider the proposed cuts. The deputies threatened to take the matter before the Constitution Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) to make sure the rights of the country's children are protected.

Japanese Embassy Donates
Money for Liver-Transplant Device

The Japanese Embassy in Costa Rica last Friday donated $81,700 to the National Children's Hospital, which will be used purchase a Doppler Ultrasound device for liver transplant operations.

During the official ceremony, Kenichi Kudo, Head of Business and Cooperation for the Japanese Embassy, gave a check for the total cost of the device to Dr. Randall Quesada, President of the Parents and Friends of Children Who Need Liver Transplants Association.

The Doppler Ultrasound plays a key role in liver transplant operations. The device is used to monitor transplant recipients' condition during pre-operation tests, the operation itself and during the entire the post-transplant recovery process.

The Embassy donated the Doppler as part of its Communal Assistance Program. Through this program, the Japanese government provides financial aid and technical assistance to countries and communities through healthcare, environmental protection and pubic service projects.