Disminuye la población en casi todos los municipios de Puerto Rico

PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

February 15, 2018

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PUERTO RICO INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS, ON COMMUNICATION FROM THE FISCAL OVERSIGHT BOARD TO THE GOVERNOR REGARDING THE REORGANIZATION OF THE STATISTICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE PUERTO RICAN GOVERNMENT

We appreciate the statements of the Fiscal Oversight Board regarding the desirability of maintaining the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute as a public instrument, independent and separate from the Government of Puerto Rico.

In addition, the Board made several recommendations, some of which we wish to comment on. In the first instance, he proposed modernizing and updating Puerto Rico's statistical functions and consolidating them into the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute. We share the concern of the Board and the Government that the fragmentation of statistical functions results in costly and ineffective processes. We are under orders from the Government to design a reorganization plan dedicated to statistical functions that achieve this objective. It's never too late to start working together, collaboratively, to achieve shared and desired goals.

Second, the Board joined the expressions of the bipartisan congressional Task Force of Puerto Rico, also created under the federal PROMESA Act, to the effect that the Institute must be allocated a larger budget, aligned with the important responsibilities it exercises. This recommendation represents an extraordinary opportunity for the Government to comply, for the first time, with the budgetary allocation approved for the Institute in its Organic Law.

Third, the Board recommended that the Institute's independence be protected from political intervention. This is an extremely sensitive issue that every Government we have worked with has had to confront, know, understand, process, accept and eventually take advantage of. At the moment, the Institute oversees the statistical work of the Executive Branch. In any other area, oversight functions would not be allowed to be disrupted. For example, one of the baseball teams would never be allowed to choose or change or influence the referee of a game. Why do we think with statistics that we can, should and is it even normal?

We all suffer from the same disinformation after decades of politicized and underfunded deterioration of the statistical functions of the Government of Puerto Rico. Finally, for 10 years we have had a new instrument, the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute, whose main purpose is to pave the way to complete, reliable statistics with fast and universal access. Let's take advantage of it.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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STATEMENTS BY DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE REGARDING HIS SELECTION AS A MEMBER OF THE CENSUS SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL ATTACHED TO U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

It is an honor to have been selected in my personal capacity to serve as a member of the Census Scientific Advisory Council. As part of these new functions, we will be advising the Federal Census Bureau on the way to the 2020 Census. We appreciate the trust placed by the acting director of U.S. Census Bureau, Ron Jarmin and the Secretary of Federal Commerce, Wilbur Ross, who have invited, for the first time, a Puerto Rican to be part of this prestigious committee.

Now that the 2020 Census is approaching, so that in the next decade we have the basic information necessary for country decision-making, it is crucial that the planning and execution of a decennial population and housing census take into account the particular circumstances and idiosyncrasies of Puerto Rico.

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Note: For more information about the appointment made by the U.S. Census Bureau and the communication made by the entity can visit the following link: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/csac.html.

Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes/787-688-0401

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