Universidad de Panamá

Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas

Escuela de Derecho

NCIN 0004

“Final activity”

Kaysie Fabiola Montaño Melgar

2-743-1432

March 12, 2019

Outline
Outline
Written rubric

Presentation table

Introduction
Content
Purposes
Requirements to enter the program
Admission of new people to the program
Financing of the program
Payment Methods
Corresponsibilities
Nature of the program
Duration of Benefit
Suspension of the legal representative
Extinction of the Benefit
Conclusion
Bibliograhy
Introduction
People with Disabilities in Panama is one of the most vulnerable populations due
to their situation of exclusion, isolation and lack of access to opportunities for their
insertion and socio-economic integration in conditions of equity.
Disability is a limitation in activity and restriction in participation, which originate
in a physical, sensory, and mental deficiency that affect a person permanently in
their daily development and in their relationship with the social environment.
Content
People with Disabilities have additional expenses to meet the same needs of people
without disabilities; This generates the favorable conditions for people with disabilities to
remain among the poorest and suffer economic and social exclusion.

According to the results of the First Disability Survey (PENDIS-2006), the 2010 Population
and Housing Census and the 2008 Living Standards Survey, the goal population to which
the Guardian Angel Program is directed has been defined.

Law No. 39 of June 14, 2012, creates a special program of economic assistance for
People with Severe Disability in conditions of dependency and extreme poverty.
Law 39 of June 14, 2012 contains 39 articles.

Purposes
In article 2 of the 2012 law, it establishes that its purposes are:
1. To improve the quality of life of people with severe disabilities in a situation of
dependency, and strange poverty by seeking the search for other structural supports.
2. Integrate family and community life to people with severe disabilities in conditions of
dependence and extreme poverty, guaranteeing them the use of their full rights and,
therefore, their participation in society.
3. Guarantee that people with severe disabilities in conditions of dependency and extreme
poverty are not subject to discrimination and enjoy the rights conferred by the Political
Constitution of the Republic and the laws.
4. Serve as an instrument so that people with severe disabilities in conditions of
dependency and extreme poverty can access the benefit of social politics
5. Establish the material and legal bases that allow the State to formulate social politics
based on equal opportunities, non-discrimination, respect for dignity, individual
autonomy, among others.

Authority
Article 4 states that the Program will be assigned to the Ministry of Social Development
as the entity in charge of its implementation and execution, and as the governing entity
for the foresight, promotion, coordination, articulation and implementation of the social
policies of the priority attention groups, and will be developed a. through my operative
unit.

The National Disability Secretariat will support the Ministry of Social Development in the
execution of the Program.

The Ministry of Social Development to strengthen the Program will create a Technical
Advisory Board, which will be determined in the regulations of this Law, and will have the
functions of advising and recommending changes and / or strategies that strengthen the
execution of the Program.

Requirements to enter the program:

In Article 7 of the law states that the requirements to enter the program are:
1. Be Panamanian or the son of Panamanians.
2. Have a severe disability in a dependent condition.
3. To be in a condition of extreme poverty.
4. Complete the enrollment survey, signed by the beneficiary and / or his legal
representative. In case you do not know how to sign, you must print your fingerprint and
signature on request.
5. Present birth certificate, personal identity card or any other document that proves your
identity
6. Present a diagnostic from a competent public health authority.

Admission of new people to the program

According to article 14 of the law: To capture the beneficiaries of the Program, the Ministry
of Social Development, in collaboration with the National Secretariat for Disability, will
conduct a socioeconomic research through community developers, social workers,
moderators and technicians.
The Ministry of Social Development may sign technical cooperation agreements with
universities so that students of social work careers, community development and others
can collaborate with the recruitment process.
You can also sign cooperation and collaboration agreements with international
organizations or governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Financing of the program

In Articles 19 and 21 Program financing will be done by the National Treasury. For this
purpose, the Executive Branch will include in the General State Budget the items
corresponding to monthly transfers for beneficiaries and operating expenses that will
include aspects of logistics and others that are established as necessary for the fulfillment
of the objectives of the Program.
The Ministry of Social Development will provide the necessary inputs for the Ministry of
Economy and Finance to give special attention and speed to the pertinent procedures so
that the execution of the Program complies with the annual schedule.

The Fund will be constituted by:

1. The initial contribution of the National Government for its operation.
2. The resources that are assigned annually in the General Budget of the State.
3. The contributions that are granted by natural or legal persons and national or
international bodies, public or private.
4. Any other contribution that the law establishes.

Payment Methods
This information is found in article 26 of law 39.
"Payments to the active beneficiary will be made in the following way:
1. If you are a minor, to your father, mother, guardian or legal representative.
2. If a person with disability is of legal age, to her mother or father who exercises the
extension of parental authority.
3. In the event of an extension of parental authority and the death of the parents, their
guardian or the legal representative.
Payments not withdrawn, during the disbursement period established in the calendar, in
no case will be accumulated for subsequent payments, unless it is proven that it is due to
fortuitous or force majeure events. "

Corresponsibilities
The legal representative must seek structural compensation from an active beneficiary,
so that it is not excluded from the benefits of public services. To do this, both must meet
one of the following alternatives according to the condition of disability (article 29).

1. Attend regularly to health services for periodic reviews. as long as the condition of
severe disability allows it. Beneficiaries whose condition of severe disability does not
allow them to attend health services may be visited by the technical team.
2. Attend the comprehensive rehabilitation center of the area, if it has been referred by
the competent health authorities.
3. Access the services of the education system, if it is a minor with severe disability.
4. Participate in talks, courses and seminars on psychological counseling, health and
others, for the care of the disabled, organized by the State for their benefit and dictated
in the areas close to their residence or place of payment.
5. The co-responsibilities that will be applied to the beneficiary will be established by the
technical team at the time of the visit to the site.
Nature of the program
Established in Article 32: The benefit of the Program is individual, non-transferable and
non-retroactive. The sum or other form of disbursement that the beneficiary receives is
unattachable and will not be subject to any discount.

Duration of Benefit
The Program will have an indefinite duration, the benefit will be permanent, subject to
periodic evaluations, and its execution will be made in a phased manner in accordance
with budgetary, logistical and priority aspects, meeting the needs of the population (Article
33).

Suspension of the legal representative

The suspension of the legal representative is considered in article 34: "It is understood
that the benefit of the Program established in this Act shall not be suspended for the
person with a disability; however, the payment to the legal representative may be
suspended when the money is used for different purposes & those foreseen in this Law
and especially for:
1. Activities other than those related to the improvement of the quality of life of the active
beneficiary, duly verified.
2. Addiction to alcohol, drugs, narcotics or gambling by the duly proven legal
representative.
3. Use for other purposes by the mother, father, guardian or legal representative, duly
verified.
Extinction of the Benefit

The benefit of the Program is extinguished by any of the following causes:

1. Death of the active beneficiary.
2. Non-payment of the benefit for three consecutive payments, except in fortuitous cases
or force majeure.
In case of death of the active beneficiary, the next of kin or the legal representative must
notify the corresponding authority within a period of no more than thirty business days.
The Ministry of Social Development will present the respective complaint in case the legal
representative or the authorized person receives the benefit unduly.
Conclusion
The Guardian Angel Program is one of the pillars that mitigates and responds to a
number of needs that, due to the nature of their condition, they require, including
people with disabilities in the framework of promoting an inclusive development
model and the recognition of these people as subjects of rights.
Law No. 39 of June 14, 2012, creates the special program of economic assistance
for People with Severe Disability in conditions of dependence and extreme poverty
and contains 39 articles
Bibliograhy
- Gacetaoficial.gob.pa. [online] Available at:
https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/27058_B/GacetaNo_27058b_2012061
8.pdf [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].