Puerto Rico News Digest For December 17, 2015

BERNIER ANNOUNCES RUN FOR GOVERNOR

From Caribbean Business:


"Some 48 hours after Gov. Alejandro García Padilla announced he would
not seek a second term as governor, former Secretary of State David Ber-
nier announced Wednesday afternoon he will be the Popular Democratic
Party’s (PDP) candidate for governor in the 2016 general election. “Wel-
come to my parents’ home and to my hometown of Patillas. I’m very ha-
ppy to be able to announce, without a script, without a teleprompter and
with great determination, that I have decided to run for governor,”  said
Bernier while sitting in his parents’ living room in the San Benito urbani-
zation, in Patillas, where he grew up. Bernier made his announcement in
his parents’ home in Patillas, on the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico..."

FIVE RESCUED FROM WATERS OFF MANATI

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"The crews of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter and a Puerto Rico Police
marine unit rescued fi ve people Monday afternoon from rough waters on
the northern coast of Puerto Rico just off the Mar Chiquita Beach rock cliff
in Manatí. The Coast Guard made the announcement Tuesday. Rescued are
three Kazakhstani nationals, two women and a man, who reportedly were
caught in a strong rip current with two other men, U.S. citizens, who had
dove into the water to render assistance..."

FED RATE HIKE SHOULDN'T AFFECT PR

From News Is My Business:

"The decision announced Wednesday by the Federal Reserve System to
increase interest rates by 25 basis points “does not represent a significant
impact” on Puerto Rico’s economy or for bank customers, Puerto Rico
Bankers Association Executive Vice President Zoimé Álvarez-Rubio said.
The Federal Reserve’s first rate hike in nine years is based on the strong
growth of the U.S. economy, and will likely be the first of several to be
introduced gradually next year. “The economic reality that Puerto Rico is
experiencing is not impacted by this decision by the Federal Reserve,”
Álvarez-Rubio said..."

CONGRESS OFFERS NO PR DEBT RELIEF

From NPR:

"A massive tax and spending bill, designed to keep the U.S. government
running for months, doesn't include any direct debt relief for struggling
Puerto Rico. The unincorporated U.S. territory is struggling to make pay-
ments on $72 billion of debt. There are serious concerns that the island
may default on Jan. 1, when more than $900 million comes due (includ-
ing over $350 million the Puerto Rican government is constitutionally
obligated to pay). The island only narrowly managed to make a $350
million payment on Dec. 1. Some lawmakers had proposed that muni-
cipalities in Puerto Rico be permitted to declare bankruptcy. Currently,
that option is available to cities in U.S. states, but not to municipal enti-
ties in U.S. territories..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For November 30, 2015

AGP, PIERLUISI TO TESTIFY BEFORE US SENATE

From Caribbean Business:

"The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing at 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 1, on Puerto Rico’s fiscal problems. With jurisdiction over
bankruptcy policy, the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grass-
ley (R., Iowa), is expected to discuss extensively the commonwealth’s eff-
orts to secure inclusion under Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. The commi-
ttee has invited Gov. Alejandro García Padilla and Resident Commissioner
Pedro Pierluisi to testify as part of the hearing’s first panel. For the second
panel, the witnesses are: University of Puerto Rico finance Prof. Carlos A.
Colón De Armas; Alex J. Pollock, a resident fellow at American Enterprise
Institute in Washington, D.C.; Stephen Spencer, managing director at Houli-
han Lokey; Richard Carrión, executive chairman of Banco Popular; and Ri-
chard Ravitch, former lieutenant governor of New York..."

BOND PAYMENT, SCOTUS DECISION LOOM THIS WEEK

From News Is My Business:

"The government of Puerto Rico is facing a busy week with  the development
of three key events on- and off-island, headed by a decision to make a $354 mi-
llion bond payment by the Dec. 1 deadline. The Government Development Bank
has that payment obligation in Senior Notes looming, of which $273.3m is back-
ed by the Commonwealth’s General Obligation constitutional guarantee...Also
pending is a $120 million disbursement for Christmas bonuses for public emplo-
yees,  which the government has also yet to confirm it will make. Meanwhile,
sometime today, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide on the govern-
ment’s petition for review of the decisions by the U.S. District Court of San
Juan and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston declaring uncons-
titutional a law passed on the island that would allow it to restructure its debts
through an orderly process..."

ASES CHIEF REPORTS PROGRESS ON DEBT

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Health Insurance Administration (ASES) Executive Director Ricardo Rivera
Cardona says ASES has made a sixth payment of $25.7 million to service pro-
viders under the Government Health Plan for debts accumulated under the old
tertiary provider administration model that ended on March 31. “We continue
to pay the debt little by little, according to the availability of funds every mon-
th,” Rivera Cardona said. “We authorized the payment [Monday]. We paid a li-
ttle over $202million, or 61 percent, on the accumulated debt of $333 million,
and liquidated the debt for pharmacy services...”

COAST GUARD FINDS MISSING MAN'S BODY

From Fox News Latino:

"The U.S. Coast Guard has found a body floating off Puerto Rico's northwest
coast that officials believe to be a Chilean man reported missing from a cargo
vessel traveling through the region. The body was dressed in a uniform belon-
ging to the Chilean-flagged Berkay N and was found near where the vessel's
first engineer Luis Leyva Aliaga went missing. The 62-year-old was last seen
at about 11 p.m. Wednesday and was reported missing Thursday after he did
not show up for his assignment..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For March 13, 2015

CUBAN MIGRANTS RESCUED FROM MONITO

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

From Local 10:

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued eight Cuban migrants from Monito Island,
Puerto Rico Wednesday afternoon, following a two-day rescue effort in the
Mona Passage. Authorities said the seven men and woman were spotted
Tuesday afternoon by a Coast Guard  pilot who was on a routine patrol
in the Mona Passage. Authorities said the group was stranded at the
bottom of a 150-foot  cliff of the uninhabited island, which is a natural
reserve and serves as a bird habitat.

DUTCH TRAVELER KILLED IN HIT AND RUN

Globetrotter and sailor Laurens Higler, age 26, was killed this
morning on Road 3 in Guayama after being struck by a car. The
driver fled the scene after the incident.  The deceased, who was
from Holland, was stopping off in Puerto Rico during his travels
around the globe.  Police have stated that they have recovered
physical evidence which could lead them to the driver who struck
Higler.

GOVERNOR DEFENDS IVA TV MESSAGE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla on Wednesday defended his most recent
pre-recorded televised message, in which he justified his proposed tax
reform and the 16 percent value added tax. “What this message was
about, at the end of the day, is to be  able to speak to people directly,
and there is a public purpose that is priceless,” García Padilla said in
TV interview. “We are talking about a profound transformation and
all transformations convey resistances.”

EIGHT MURDER VICTIMS IN LESS THAN A WEEK

As reported today by El Vocero, eight people were killed -- mostly in
shootings -- between Tuesday afternoon and early Friday morning.
The incidents were reported in Hato Rey, Santurce, Yabucoa, Bayamón
and San Lorenzo. This week's murders bring the total for the month to
20, five more than at this time last year. So far, 103 violent deaths have
been registered in Puerto Rico, 27 less than last year.

MOODY'S DOWNGRADES UPR BONDS

From Caribbean Business:

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded $489 million of  University
of Puerto Rico University system revenue bonds to  Caa2 from Caa1 and
$73 million of educational facilities revenue bonds, 2000 Series A issued
through AFICA to Caa3 from Caa2. The outlook is negative.

The rating differential between the university system revenue bonds and
the educational facilities revenue bonds reflects the subordinate pledge
and lease structure of the educational facilities revenue bonds.

DORAL BANK GOES TO CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY

From Reuters:

Doral Financial Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection  on
Wednesday to wind down its remaining operations two weeks after its
Puerto Rico-based bank subsidiary was seized by regulators. Doral
Financial's bankruptcy is the latest reminder of the financial crisis on
the island, a U.S. commonwealth, which has been mired for years in
an economic slump. The bank has also been dogged by accounting
problems and an employee was recently indicted for money laundering.



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