He is a presumed gubernatorial nominee and soon to be his party’s standard bearer. He is also one of the first to dispute Gov. Fortuño’s claim that the island’s economic outlook is improving.
Alejandro García Padilla is not buying administration statements that Puerto Rico is headed in the right direction.
Unlike most of his peers, the first-term Popular Democratic Party senator is usually one of the first to arrive at the Capitol.
He is regularly seen entering his senatorial office no later than 8:30 in the morning.
“It’s a ritual I learned a long time ago,” said Padilla. “In the morning, especially early, we are able to start the day with a flood of ideas and a fresh mind to tackle the many problems facing the island,” Padilla said.
Most on his mind lately is the state of the economy.
“This is the number one issue on the mind of Puerto Ricans, but the Fortuño administration has failed miserably,” Padilla said.
The PDP lawmaker questioned the comments made by administration officials citing that the island’s economic outlook is improving. He also rejects the idea that a recovery is underway.
Early in the week, the administration cited an improved classification of the island’s debt as an indicator that the economic situation was improving.
To offset that claim, Padilla pointed to data from the Center for the New Economy that showed that economic activity had receded on the island by 2.6 percent the last year.
The Center has a non-profit blog managed by Sergio Marxuach, an advisor to former PDP Gov. Sila M. Calderón.
In his trips to small towns such as San Germán, Aguas Buenas and Cayey, the PDP senator has found that the people are not experiencing what he referred to as the “so-called recovery.”
“People in those towns are laughing at the comments that the economy is improving. The reality is that the economy is depressed. We are generating a negative growth every quarter since Fortuño took over.”
Padilla argued that several well known economists who had heavily criticized the government of Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, are now blasting the financial measures of the current administration.
The economy is only the tip of the provincial iceberg, according to the at-large senator. He claims that the policies implemented by the NPP-led government have strangled health care and destroyed the island’s education system.
“There’s no area in which real progress can be measured. The public is not fooled by hollow words of encouragement. They know the difference and they know that the island is in dire state,” he said
Padilla blasted the comments made by New Progressive Party Secretary General Héctor Morales, saying that he has found “renewed hope on the streets of Puerto Rico.”
“He must have been on a trip somewhere when he heard that comment, not on the island. That’s a ridiculous statement,” he said.
The senator challenged Morales to stroll the streets of Puerto Rico and he would find out how deep the despair runs.
To express his point, Padilla recalled a conversation he had with an Aguas Buenas business man who has been operating a small shop in the center of the town for 56 years.
“He told me that this was the worst year in the history of his business. People of our age have never seen Puerto Rico in the situation we are currently in,” he said.
On the matter of the forced resignation of former NPP lawmaker Iván Rodríguez Traverzo, Padilla referred to it as a “wakeup call.”
“The vote has serious implications; it is not a folk exercise. What is happening in the legislature and the government is the direct result of the November 2008 vote.”
Padilla readily expressed that the person who came second in the 2008 election for the 16th House District, PDP hopeful Antonio “Tony” Rodríguez Quiles, would have been a much wiser choice for the voters of San Sebastián, Las Marías and Isabela.
Padilla called the San Sebastian lawyer who lost to Rodríguez by 3,500 votes “a first class citizen with an impeccable background.”
The pointed reference was an intentional comparison to Rodríguez’s checkered background.
“The NPP party ignored the red flags concerning Rodríguez. Give the NPP one term in control of the legislature and the public will see scandals like this one.”
The first-time lawmaker explained that members of his party had anticipated what the result of an NPP takeover of the legislature and the executive branch would entail.
“We told the country that the governor would fire public employees and months after he took over he fired 30,000 public servants. The vote has consequences and this is another one of them,” Padilla said.
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