MMonday,onday, JJanuaryanuary 222,2, 22018018 50¢ San The Juan Star DDAILYDAILYAILY UPR Grad School Council Warns LLocalocal CockfightingCockfighting IIndustryndustry Against TToo CombatCombat FFederalederal BBanan Dissolving PP33 Island Board of Education P7 A Dozen PR Nature Reserves, Refuges Reopen After Maria en PP19P2219 P7 NOTICIAS ESPANOL 787.743.3346 • Fax 787.743.5100 • thesanjuandailystar.com 2 Monday, January 22, 2018 The San Juan Daily Star GOOD MORNING 3 January 22, 2018 The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Today’s Island Cockfi ghting Industry, Pols Join Weather Forces Against Proposed Federal Ban By JOHN McPHAUL Assistance will also be sought from Resident Com- [email protected] missioner Jenniff er González Colón, and visits will be Day Night made to the U.S. capital to deliver the message of the im- ozens of fans of cockfi ghting, including owners of portance of excluding the island from the provision. High Low cockfi ghting arenas, known as “galleras,” met last “I thank the resident commissioner, who after our call Dweek with Rep. Urayoán Hernández Alvarado agreed to come to Puerto Rico to meet with us in order to and other government offi cials to create a common front achieve a solution to this historic dilemma,” the legislator 83ºF 74ºF against the provisions contained in U.S. House Resolu- said. “I also thank my friend, Senator Alex ‘Chino’ Roque, tion 4202, whose purpose is to prohibit cockfi ghting in all for his eff ort in achieving this meeting. Everyone here is Precip 20% Precip 20% United States jurisdictions. convinced that we can avoid this catastrophe, if we unite Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy “This past Wednesday we met with dozens of fans of and do the work. I will not allow this industry to disap- the sport … to draw up strategies aimed at defeating in pear; that will not happen.” Wind: From E 14 mph Congress a measure by a Republican representative from The cockfi ghting industry in Puerto Rico contributes Humidity: 75% the state of Illinois, Peter Roskam, which seeks to prohibit over $87 million annually in direct revenues to the trea- UV Index: 8 of 10 this type of entertainment in all territory and jurisdictions sury, including admission paid at ticket offi ces, payments Sunrise: 6:59 AM Local Time of the United States,” Hernández Alvarado said. “At the on legal bets and the consumption of food and bever- Sunset: 6:12 PM Local Time meeting we reached multiple agreements, particularly, ages. we are going to unite, all of us, in a multisectorial move- Cockfi ghts are also regarded as an important pillar of ment to lobby against the measure. This is the fi rst time the local economy because thousands of people depend INDEX this type of unity has been achieved out and we are sure on the industry for their jobs. In addition, hundreds of that it will have a positive result.” small businesses are nourished by the economic move- Local 3 Travel 21 The meeting was held at Department of Recreation ment generated by the sport, proponents say. and Sports headquarters in San Juan. “From the devastation left by Hurricane Maria, the Mainland 8 Legal Notices 23 Among the agreements are the creation of an educa- rooster industry, or the ‘Sport of Knights,’ as it is known, Business 12 Sports 27 tional media campaign through social networks. has had a robust breakthrough,” Hernández Alvarado said. “Puerto Rico cannot International 14 Games 29 aff ord to lose this source of income, jobs and cul- Viewpoint 18 Horoscope 30 ture, much less in this Noticias en Español 19 Cartoons 31 crucial time for the recov- ery of our people. That is Entertainment 20 why we will be asking the members of Congress to approve an amendment to this resolution that totally excludes Puerto Rico. We will be very active in Con- gress to make sure that the sport of cockfi ghting on the island is not touched.” The Roskam mea- sure is currently being discussed in the House Subcommittee on Foreign Aff airs and Foreign Agri- culture. 4 Monday, January 22, 2018 The San Juan Daily Star Puerto Rico Finances Under Scrutiny Amid Plea for Help By DANICA COTO the funds came from and whether there are ways to modify restrictions to free up more op fi nancial offi cials in Puerto Rico of- money, as requested by the board. fered a peek late last week into why the He noted the government has a central TU.S. territory is mired in an 11-year re- cash balance of $1.7 billion and stressed that cession as a federal control board demanded the island’s power agency and water and more transparency and information about sewer company will soon have no funds as the island’s fi nances. the territory struggles to recover from a Cat- Offi cials said that for decades, the num- egory 4 hurricane that caused up to an esti- ber of government bank accounts was un- mated $95 billion in damage. clear, public agencies used one of four dif- “The liquidity challenges are real and ferent accounting systems, and government need to be addressed now,” Portela said. vendors charged more for services when not “We have taken a number of extraordinary paid, among other issues. steps to prolong liquidity. These measures The testimony they provided during are unsustainable.” a public hearing held Friday by the board Federal offi cials recently sent Portela a came as Puerto Rico’s government continues letter stating they were temporarily with- to insist that it is running out of money and holding a billion-dollar loan approved by needs more help from the U.S. for post-hur- U.S. Congress last year for post-hurricane re- ricane recovery eff orts. covery eff orts because they felt Puerto Rico Gerardo Portela, director of the island’s had suffi cient funds. Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Au- Given that announcement, the federal thority, said an ongoing audit has found $6.8 control board and local offi cials are trying to billion in some 800 government accounts, identify additional revenue sources as the is- Juan Zaragoza but noted that $4.3 billion of that is not avail- land struggles to restructure a portion of its able for use because of restrictions. $73 billion public debt load. cluding those previously excluded simply “We have been playing games with reve- He said his offi ce will provide more Board member José González said he because of traditional management prac- nue statements for decades,” he said, adding details in upcoming months about where wants all revenue streams identifi ed, in- tices. that a decentralized accounting system had “There are no sacred cows in this pro- drawbacks. “It allowed us to create a mirage cess,” he said, adding that revenue gener- that we had the borrowing capacity.” ated by a hotel room tax rate, for example, Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive could be used for various purposes. director, said that while the board learned Government offi cials said they were a lot about Puerto Rico’s cash management looking into shutting down or consolidating practices during the public hearing, more in- certain accounts and aiming for a more cen- formation is needed. tralized accounting system after what critics “The government has much work to have called decades of mismanagement and do,” she said. “We need to restore transpar- ineffi ciency. ency and accountability.” Juan Zaragoza, Puerto Rico’s highly re- Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares’ repre- garded former treasury secretary, said part sentative on the oversight board, Christian of the problem is that former government Sobrino Vega, said the island government offi cials didn’t initially look into informa- has been busy doing that work. He said the tion now demanded by the board. He re- U.S. Treasury has received 30 requests for in- counted a time he was tasked with closing formation from the commonwealth govern- all bank accounts at the currently defunct ment “and all have been answered.” Government Development Bank (GDB), At a press conference at the Puerto Rico which once oversaw the island’s debt trans- Convention Center in Miramar on Friday, actions. where the oversight board hearing was tak- “I honestly thought we had like 30 or ing place, the offi cial also said that “it does 40 bank accounts. We had 644 accounts at not matter if there are 800 accounts or 10, the GDB,” he said. “No one had ever had the point is visibility.” responsibility or the need to make an inven- Sobrino insisted that the relevant thing tory of the bank accounts because there was is “to have effi cient and eff ective manage- enough money.” ment of government funds.” Zaragoza also criticized other practices, “What we are experiencing today is an including the island’s initial lack of a tax ex- example of the work that has been done to penditure budget and its longstanding tradi- reach that goal,” he said. tion of overestimating revenue collections. John McPhaul contributed to this report. The San Juan Daily Star Monday, January 22, 2018 5 Lights Back On for More PREPA Customers with Renewal of Another Transmission Line By MARIA MIRANDA SIERRA mission line that runs from Aguas Buenas to Sabana [email protected] Llana was completed, increasing the number of customers who have electricity service to 931,132, uerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) or 63.5 percent, and boosting generation capacity to Interim Executive Director Justo González an- 84.5 percent.