The Weekly Journal - Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

www.theweeklyjournal.com

>Josian E. Bruno Gómez

Wednesday, September 29 - October 5, 2021 - // no. 127

Prepa Under Fire P6

Puerto Rico’s

Good News for Public Retirees P7

GDP Increased by 0.3 Percent in 2019 >Archive

>Courtesy of Marconi Campos Cerqueira

Cyber Fraud Costing Millions P8

First official BEA release of GDP for the island, 2012–2019

P Rosario Fajardo

New Puerto Rico Bird Atlas P13

rfajardo@wjournalpr.com

@RosarioWJournal

uerto Rico’s real gross-domestic product (GDP) increased slightly by 0.3 percent in 2019 after decreasing 2.4 percent in 2018, which reflected the immediate impact of Hurricane Maria in September 2017, according to newly released estimates by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

The statistics released this week are the BEA’s first official release of GDP for Puerto Rico. The release

includes updated estimates for 2012 to 2018 that incorporate new and additional source data and methodology improvements to the prototype GDP statistics that were released in September 2020.

The report found that the pharmaceutical industry continue to be important for Puerto Rico, as the increase in real GDP in 2019 reflected an increase in the island’s exports. “Although private inventory investment, government spending, and consumer spending declined, these decreases were largely offset by a decrease in imports, which GO TO PAGE 4

@museomapr

The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, September 29, 2021 >

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¡Respalda tu Museo!

Haz un donativo y sé parte de la historia del arte puertorriqueño.

J: 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. V-D: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. ave. de Diego Santurce

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

a week in review PIERLUISI SIGNS MINIMUM-WAGE HIKE BILL

>Archive

>Archive

>Carlos Rivera Giusti

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi signed the increase in Puerto Rico’s minimum wage into law. As of Jan. 1, 2022, the rate will be $8.50 per hour.

The increase could represent an increase of more than $2,000 per year for a minimum-wage employee who works full time.

“For a long time, thousands of workers on our Island have not received an increase in the minimum wage, but they have had an increase in the cost of living for the past 12 years. A payment of $7.25 an hour is no longer sustainable to live in Puerto Rico, so it was time to do justice to the working class,” the governor.

According to the new law, on July 1, 2023 the minimum wage could be increased to $9.50 an hour and on July 1, 2024 it could be $10.50 an hour. >Carlos Rivera Giusti

Microsoft to Cease Operations in Humacao

Ports Authority Receives ‘Historic’ Grant for Aguadilla Airport

Economic Development Secretary Manuel Cidre confirmed that Microsoft will reorganize its operations in Humacao. Microsoft Operations Puerto Rico LLC announced that it will maintain a remote workforce in Puerto Rico with some employees to be relocated in different offices worldwide. The local reorganization will be done gradually, with 78 people scheduled to lose their jobs, and will culminate in 2024. Even after its completion, Microsoft will maintain sales and support personnel in Puerto Rico to support customers. Microsoft said its offices in Guaynabo will remain unchanged.

The Puerto Rico Ports Authority received an additional federal grant of more than $45.2 million for the construction of a new runway at the Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla, said Ports Executive Director Joel A. Pizá Batiz. “This new grant joins the one announced last September for $24.2 million awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as $30 million that Gov. Pedro Pierluisi recently managed to obtain in state funds, to carry out this significant project for the Aguadilla airport and the entire western region,” Pizá stated. The total cost of the project is estimated at $130 million.

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Pharmaceuticals are an important part of Puerto Rico’s economy. >Courtesy of PAOG Group, CBD

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 is a subtraction item in the calculation of GDP. “Pharmaceuticals and organic chemicals were the largest contributors to both the growth in exports and the decline in imports in 2019. Exports increased 0.7 percent, while imports decreased 9.1 percent. The primary contributor to the decrease in private inventory investment was the chemical manufacturing industry, which includes pharmaceutical manufacturers,” stated the BEA report.

Meanwhile, government spending decreased 11.4 percent in 2019 as spending on disaster recovery activities slowed after Maria. “The largest decline was in gross investment in structures by the central government as major repairs to the power grid, which was damaged in 2017 by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, were completed in 2018,” as per the BEA. At the same time, consumer spending decreased slightly by 0.5 percent in 2019. The federal agency explained that purchases of durable goods decreased 3.6 percent as disaster-related insurance payouts and government payments to households, which supported consumer spending in 2018, declined.

“Puerto Rico GDP includes production owned by nonresidents, such as nonresident multinational enterprises. In Puerto Rico, subsidiaries of large nonresident multinational enterprises operate within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, as well as the medical device manufacturing and computer services industries,” noted the BEA.

Importance of Data

Accurate GDP statistics for the U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, contribute to a better understanding of economic development and recovery in these areas, explained the BEA. “For example, to date, Congress has appropriated more than $60 billion for Puerto Rico recovery efforts following hurricanes in 2017 and

earthquakes in 2020. High-quality GDP statistics assist policymakers in gauging the impact of such funding on Puerto Rico’s economy,” the report added.

As noted by BEA economists Sabrina L. Montes and Aya Hamano: “The 2015 Puerto Rico debt crisis and the September 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria caused widespread hardship and then physical devastation on the island. These economic catastrophes highlighted the pressing need for more modern Puerto Rico GDP statistics to facilitate recovery efforts.”

The BEA explained that it estimates Puerto Rico GDP using an expenditure approach (aggregating estimates of consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net exports). “This is the approach that BEA uses for its featured measure of quarterly national GDP. This is also the methodology used by BEA for estimating GDP for the other U.S. territories. Put simply, this means BEA estimates each territory as if it was a country,” the agency said.

For a complete picture, the BEA also uses data from both the Puerto Rico government and the federal government. “Federal economic data collection alone is not sufficient to measure all components of Puerto Rico GDP. For example, territorial and municipal government spending is not covered by federal surveys,” the BEA stated.

Effect of Natural Disasters on GDP

In general, the full economic effects of natural disasters and disease outbreaks on GDP cannot be separately quantified, because the impacts are generally embedded in the various data sets used in the estimation processes and cannot be separately identified, according to the BEA. For example, Hurricanes Irma and Maria disrupted manufacturing production and exports of pharmaceutical products in Puerto Rico as companies had to repair damage to their facilities and shift to alternative sources of power until Puerto Rico’s power grid could be repaired. “Other

The 2015 Puerto Rico debt crisis and the September 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria caused widespread hardship and then physical devastation on the island. These economic catastrophes highlighted the pressing need for more modern Puerto Rico GDP statistics to facilitate recovery efforts.

- BEA economists Sabrina L. Montes and Aya Hamano

types of production, like rebuilding activities, increased following the hurricanes as damaged infrastructure was restored. The hurricanes also affected consumer spending. Immediately after the hurricanes, households’ ability to purchase goods and services was restricted as many businesses had temporarily closed. After households began to receive disaster-related insurance payouts and government benefit payments, they began to replace cars, appliances, and other goods destroyed by the hurricanes,” said the report.

These effects on production and consumption are reflected—but not separately identified—in the data that BEA uses to prepare the estimates of GDP for Puerto Rico; consequently, it is not possible to precisely determine the overall impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on GDP, the federal agency concluded.

/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

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Updated Once a Year

The statistics released by the BEA incorporate new and updated source data and methodology improvements to the September 2020 prototype Puerto Rico GDP statistics.

As improved source data become available, the BEA will incorporate the information and will release updated estimates once a year.

Approximately every five years, BEA will conduct a “comprehensive” update, which will incorporate the most extensive source data available and introduce major methodological changes.

The new estimates show that real GDP decreased less than previously estimated between 2012 and 2017, primarily reflecting revisions to consumer spending, private inventory investment, and exports of “all other” services, explained the BEA. “In 2018, real GDP decreased more than previously estimated, primarily reflecting downward revisions to private inventory investment and exports of all other services.

Consumer spending also decreased less than previously estimated between 2012 and 2017, reflecting the incorporation of other data on retail sector and services sector sales to households.

Meanwhile, private inventory investment also decreased less over this period than previously estimated, reflecting the incorporation of other data on business inventories for the manufacturing, wholesale and retail sectors.

Inventory investment was revised down in 2018, reflecting the incorporation of data on business inventories collected from publicly filed company financial statements, said the BEA. However, exports of all other services, which includes computer services such as software licenses and downloads, increased more than previously estimated between 2012 and 2017, reflecting the incorporation of other data on

revenues of the information sector. “In 2018, exports of all other services increased less than previously estimated, reflecting improvements to the annual indicator series for exports of computer services,” according to the federal agency.

Puerto Rico Economy During COVID

The BEA numbers do not include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the data does not include 2020. As reported by THE WEEKLY JOURNAL, Puerto Rico’s GDP dropped by 3.2 percent in fiscal year 2020, according to the Planning Board’s 2020 Economic Report.

“The effects of these events (natural disasters and COVID) will be reflected over several years

Government spending on reconstruction works is also an important component of the Puerto Rico economy. >Archive

and will take time for the economic recovery. In addition, they present statistical data that show the increase in federal transfers that reached the island as a result of these events,” said Manuel Hidalgo Rivera, the designated president of the Planning Board.

“Also, different variables are highlighted including Gross Product (GNP), which totaled [nearly] $70.19 billion at current prices. At constant or real prices, this variable registered a value of [more than] $5.64 billion at 1954 prices, which reflected a decrease of 3.2 percent, a drop of 5.0 percentage points with respect to fiscal year 2019.”

The total economic impact of the various measures contained in the lockdown and other executive orders to fight the COVID pandemic was estimated, according to the information available at the time, at $691.6 million, representing 0.01 percent of the island’s Gross Product at current prices.

This number includes an impact of $44.0 million in payroll in the government sector, due to the effect of the “suspension of services” during the lockdown and other executive orders.

This economic downturn would surely have been bigger if it weren’t for the billions in federal pandemic stimulus funds that Puerto Rico has received for individuals, including those who lost their jobs during the COVID emergency; businesses of all sizes through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Business Interruption grants; as well as specific allocations for education, tourism, hospitals and local municipalities, among others.

The 408-page Planning Board report notes that in Puerto Rico, small and midsize businesses (PyMEs by the Spanish acronym) represent approximately 80.8 percent of businesses, 38.6 percent of total formal jobs, and 35.6 percent of total paid payroll. “Although they appear as a key element in the development of entrepreneurship, PyMEs have proven to be very vulnerable to economic fluctuations, and not only are they the most affected, but also the ones that take the longest to recover in times of crisis,” Hidalgo said.

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

PREPA’s Woes Continue

Thousands of clients left without power in recent days

“I Rosario Fajardo

rfajardo@wjournalpr.com

@RosarioWJournal

t’s like déjà vu all over again.” That is what baseball icon Yogi Berra would likely have said about the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s continuing woes. In this month alone, the public corporation has reported a number of selected blackouts due to an electricity “generation deficit.”

Unit 6 at the Central Costa Sur powerplant had been out of service since Aug. 20 due to a mechanical failure, while the San Juan powerplant’s unit 5 was undergoing maintenance service.

On Monday morning, PREPA explained that a sargassum “event” entered the system, plugged the filters and slipped through a pipe, which caused a “forced exit” of unit 1 of the Aguirre powerplant. The situation caused the interruption of electricity service to thousands of customers.

According to the PREPA portal that indicates customers without service, at 7 a.m. Monday, there were more than 27,000 clients without electricity.

Later that morning there was more bad news.

LUMA Energy - the private company in charge of energy transmission and distribution - reported on its social media accounts a “limited generation event,” which means that service interruptions had begun. PREPA reported that more than 100,000 islandwide were without electricity service. The most affected regions are Caguas, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan. Shortly thereafter, PREPA reported on social networks a break in the boiler of unit 3 at the Palo Seco powerplant.

On Tuesday morning, more than 100,000 PREPA clients, from San Juan to Arecibo, were out of service due to a breakdown at Palo Seco.

PREPA Executive Director Efran Paredes assured the public that the “electricity generation situation” should be normalized by today (Wednesday).

“These are unexpected events and we are attacking them with the greatest speed. There is no hidden agenda or anything. PREPA’s objective is to provide service without any interruption and we are working for that,” he said.

In the midst of the crisis, the president of PREPA’s governing board, Ralph Kreil Rivera, resigned, while Gov. Pedro Pierluisi expressed his dissatisfaction. “The situation with the electrical system that has been developing in recent days is unacceptable and the recurring technical failures at PREPA are unsustainable,” he said.

LUMA Touts Progress Made

calls, vegetation management and bringing back into service four substations, some of which had For its part, LUMA touted that during its first been out of service since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

100 days operating Puerto Rico’s electric power LUMA is managing 65 projects approved transmission and distribution system, a solid by FEMA, representing an investment of $2.8 foundation had been laid for the island to have billion. The projects, in various reliable, resilient and sustainable stages of development, include electricity at reasonable prices. transmission, distribution and “The Public-Private Partnership substation works slated to start that LUMA entered for the construction in 2022, Stensby operation of the transmission and said. distribution system is the first LUMA is As reported by THE WEEKLY critical step in a journey that will managing 65 projects JOURNAL, a technical hearing lead to the modern electric power approved by FEMA, held last week by the Puerto Rico system that Puerto Rico deserves; representing an Energy Bureau (PREB), found that a process that also includes the investment of $2.8 LUMA was unable to bill at least eventual private operation of billion. The projects, 39,000 clients in August and as a PREPA’s generation fleet and in various stages result, estimated invoices were the utility’s crucial exit from of development, made. bankruptcy. Our more than 3,000 include transmission, The data raised questions employees have worked tirelessly distribution and about how the company in charge to stabilize our operation and substation works of the energy distribution and significantly improve customer slated to start transmission system is going to service, paving the way for construction in 2022. guarantee that it does not double the exciting work ahead. This bill customers and how they will transformation will be a decadeensure that the subscribers are long endeavor that will invest given the adjustment based on billions of dollars into the Puerto the prices of the corresponding months.

Rican economy and give the people of Puerto Rico The hearing was called to evaluate LUMA’s a 21st century electric power system,” said LUMA request to increase the electricity rate by 2.49 President and CEO Wayne Stensby. cents from October 1 to December 31. LUMA He said LUMA has made “significant progress” executives assured that they have taken provisions in stabilizing and beginning maintenance of the to ensure the next billings will be done correctly fragile transmission and distribution system. This and that they will work to improve the failures. includes the completion of over 51,000 service

In fact,

A sargassum “event” led to a blackout for thousands of PREPA customers >Courtesy of PREPA

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>Archive

/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

FOMB Agrees to Higher Threshold for Pension Cuts Up from $1,500 a month to $2,000 monthly

T

The Weekly Journal Staff

he Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) has conceded an important point in the negotiations for the approval of the central government’s Plan of Adjustment: reducing the number of government retirees who would receive cuts in their pensions.

“Following extensive discussions with the [island’s] elected leaders, the Oversight Board is willing to agree to increase the threshold for retirees exempt from any reduction in benefits from $1,500 per month to $2,000 per month.

This new threshold will exempt approximately 139,000 of government retirees, or 84 percent of government retirees, from any reduction in benefits,” the FOMB said in a statement.

“The Oversight Board is also willing to support restoring any reduction in pension benefits should Puerto Rico receive federal Medicaid funds in excess of amounts projected in the 2021 Certified Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico and should such funds generate enough savings in the government’s general fund budget to permit a restoration of the benefit reduction,” according to the federally mandated entity.

The Oversight Board added that its members have been meeting with Senate President José Luis Dalmau Santiago, Speaker of the House Rafael Hernández Montañez, and Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi, regarding the confirmation of the

Plan of Adjustment by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico to restructure the Commonwealth’s debt to sustainable levels.

As reported by THE WEEKLY JOURNAL, pension cuts to public retirees has been a thorny issue between the FOMB and Puerto Rico government. During a recent public meeting, Pierluisi reaffirmed that he supports the Plan of Agreement, but not the pension cuts, as he called them “unnecessary.”

This new threshold will exempt approximately 139,000 of government retirees, or 84 percent of government retirees, from any reduction in benefits.

-The FOMB

The Plan of Adjustment for the central government is the largest part of Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring, with about $35 billion in claims by bondholders and creditors, and more than $55 billion in pension liabilities. The Plan originally included an 8.5 percent cut to public pensions of $1,500 or more each month.

In its missive, the Oversight Board also said it is willing to agree that municipalities share the benefits resulting from the reduction in debt service, contingent on Puerto Rico obtaining and

maintaining adequate Medicaid funding. The Oversight Board proposes to include additional funding to the existing municipal equalization fund, to be distributed in accordance with the existing parameters at CRIM. The Oversight Board would agree to those proposals if the Puerto Rico Legislature adopted the necessary legislation for the Plan of Adjustment and the Governor signs that legislation into law.

“After years of tough negotiations, a diverse group of creditors that includes retirees, unions, bondholders and bond insurers, and other creditors of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico agreed to a Plan of Adjustment that is fair and provides a path out of bankruptcy,” said the Oversight Board’s Chairman David Skeel. “We are almost there. Let’s get to the finish line with the legislation necessary to restructure the debt so we can go into confirmation hearings in November with all of the necessary pieces in place to lift the burden of bankruptcy from the people of Puerto Rico.”

Before PROMESA, Puerto Rico had to pay up to 25 cents of every dollar it collected in taxes and fees to creditors; the Plan of Adjustment would reduce that amount to just over 7 cents of every dollar. The Plan of Adjustment would reduce the island’s outstanding debt by almost 80 percent, from $33 billion to $7 billion, according to the FOMB. The FOMB said it will continue the “constructive dialogue” with the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Branch to find a solution that will result in the enactment of legislation to complete the Title III debt restructuring process under PROMESA, which is an essential step for the Oversight Board to complete its mandate under the law.

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In 2020, cyber fraud represented roughly $8 million in total losses on the island. >Archive

Cyber Fraud Costing Millions to Puerto Rico Residents, Businesses 29 million cyberattack attempts reported in Puerto Rico in Q1 2021

E Giovanna Garofalo

ggarofalo@wjournalpr.com

@giopgarofalo

vertec Inc. - a leading financial technology and transaction processing company in Latin America that is based in Puerto Rico - shared some insight into cyber fraud in the region, raising awareness on this ever-growing issue affecting citizens and businesses alike.

Emilio Fuentes, Evertec’s VP of IT Service Management and Security, reported during an educational webinar that, per a June study

by Fortinet, there were 29 million cyberattack attempts in Puerto Rico in the first quarter of 2021 alone and more than 7 billion attempts in Latin America.

“The number will not go down because the increase in consumption of digital channels, online transactions and social networks continues to increase, and has even been accelerated by the [COVID-19] issue,” Fuentes stated. “This creates fertile ground for scammers and the individuals who engage in this cyber fraud.”

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicated in its Consumer Sentinel Network - Data Book 2020 that, throughout last year, there were 6,110 fraud reports in Puerto Rico. These represented roughly $8 million in total losses, with median fraud losses of $384. The top-five report categories, in descending order, were Identity Theft (21 percent); Imposter Scams (17 percent); Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users (13 percent); Online Shopping and Negative Reviews (9 percent); and Banks and Lenders (4 percent).

eliminating or ignoring any password or financial The remaining categories made up 12 percent of information requests; not allowing a link to reports collectively. determine when one will land, and establishing “In cases of identity theft, these cases are spam filters on emails. summarized by an attacker who According to the Global steals privileged information from Consumer Pulse Study by a citizen or business, such as a TransUnion, as of March Social Security attack, with the 16, 2021, the percentage of purpose of defrauding someone consumers worldwide who or something. In the case of According said they are being targeted by impersonating to [commit] to TransUnion, Gen digital fraud related to COVID-19 fraud, this is when a person Z - those born from in the previous three months representing someone trusted 1995 to 2002 - is (36 percent) is higher than by the victim asks for money or currently the most approximately one year ago. In steals important information,” targeted out of any April 2020, 29 percent said they Fuentes explained. Similarly, generation in the had been targeted by digital fraud the top-three categories in the U.S., at 42 percent. related to COVID-19. In the U.S., U.S. mainland are identity theft, They are followed this percentage increased from imposter scams and online

by Millennials (37 26 percent to 38 percent in the shopping and negative reviews, percent). same timeframe. representing $3.3 billion in losses Specifically, DataReportal in 2020, with an average median published in ‘Digital 2021: Global loss of $311.

Overview Report’ last January that there were some 5.6 billion malware attacks How to Push Back Cyberattacks? and 304 million ransomware attacks in 2020.

Ultimately, the key to protecting oneself and These exposed 155.8 million individual records one’s business against these attacks boils down to and resulted in $32.39 billion in losses over cyber education, Fuentes said. “The beginning of all this fraud. is education; we all have to educate ourselves to According to TransUnion, Gen Z - those born have a chance to beat the scammer. Educating our from 1995 to 2002 - is currently the most targeted citizens and merchants is super important because out of any generation in the U.S., at 42 percent. as we increase the sophistication of our citizens They are followed by Millennials (37 percent). and merchants, we give them the opportunity Similarities were observed in the U.S., where Gen so that they can then take advantage of the Z was most targeted at 53 percent, followed by technological advances that do exist to protect us Millennials at 40 percent. Incidentally, these are from these attacks,” he affirmed. the generations with the broadest access to digital Other ways to avoid being a victim of cyber technology.

The FTC noted that in addition to being fraud are ignoring emails and attached files targeted more often, younger people reported by suspicious sources; using multi-factor losing money to fraud more often than older authentication; being wary of tempting offers people, with 44 percent of reports being submitted online; updating one’s antivirus software and by people aged 20 to 29 and 20 percent by citizens antimalware; downloading content from trusted aged 70 to 79. sources only; ensuring one’s electronic devices;

In fact,

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Direct Relief Puerto Rico Marks Three Years on the Island

Executive affirms the island has improved its emergency response

F

Giovanna Garofalo

ggarofalo@elvocero.com

@giopgarofalo

or the past three years, Direct Relief Puerto Rico has positioned itself as an invaluable nonprofit organization dedicated to bolstering the island’s emergency response, as well as improving citizens’ access to healthcare and overall well-being in local communities.

Following the devastating passage of Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20, 2017, parent organization Direct Relief - opened a division in Puerto Rico in early 2018, where it has since allocated both human and financial resources to bolster the island’s recovery process and make it better equipped to mitigate the impact of future disasters and emergencies, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Ivonne Rodríguez-Wiewall, the executive advisor of Direct Relief PR, held an exclusive interview with THE WEEKLY JOURNAL to discuss past and current initiatives overseen by the organization, as well as innovative projects under development that seek to amplify the entity’s mission of safeguarding human life and facilitating access to medical services.

“The strength of Direct Relief as an international organization is the distribution and logistics of medicine and medical equipment at the time of an emergency; we are doing it in over 100 countries around the world. What happened in Puerto Rico is that after Hurricane Maria - and thanks to the funds we received from AbbVie, which gave us $50 million in cash, $1 million from Amgen, the pharmaceutical company and other private donations - we were able to go to Puerto Rico, where we were able to develop several programs that went beyond the distribution of medicine,” Rodríguez explained.

For instance, an assessment of the situation islandwide concluded that part of the problems linked to limited access to healthcare and medical services was the collapse of the electricity grid, which in turn affected the telecommunications industry. As such, Direct Relief PR took on a more encompassing approach, such as collaborating with local nonprofits to install solar panels on health clinics so they may run on renewable energy should the grid collapse again.

Direct Relief Puerto Rico has taken a more encompassing approach toward improving the island’s emergency response network. >Courtesy

Focus on Primary Healthcare

Moreover, Puerto Rico Primary Health Centers, also known as Centers 330, operate 115 clinics, including mobile units and school spaces, throughout 67 municipalities. In these centers, patients receive primary and preventive health services. During the past three years, Direct Relief has provided funds to the centers for various projects such as telemedicine, mobile units, structural improvements and the implementation of special health programs.

“This was a success during COVID because there were many patients who could continue receiving this service, especially when they have chronic conditions. We also provided [healthcare] access with the donation of mobile units and all-terrain vehicles. To date, we have donated 45 of those vehicles,” the executive advisor stated, adding that “with COVID, this has been very important because the mobile units are being used as vaccination centers.

“As for the Centers 330, which are our largest partners, we are also working on communications.

That is one of the things we learned from Maria, that communications failed as well. Now we are working on projects that give them the ease of being interconnected in case of an emergency. We are buying radios for them to be interconnected in case of a future emergency. Going forward, we are also looking for a way to see how a call center can be established because they are receiving so many calls with the COVID emergency… and, we are looking for ways to help them provide services to patients,” she reported. The initial purchase of these radios, excluding maintenance and the network connection, is roughly $350,000.

Close Monitoring is Key

In the current round of distributions, the local division has assigned $12.5 million in cash grants to roughly 55 organizations, including health clinics. After a request has been approved and the applicant receives the first allocation, it must submit periodic reports to measure the efficacy and impact of the project’s implementation before receiving further disbursements. The local team then collects all reports, summarizes them and sends them to headquarters in Santa Barbara, Calif., to measure the cost-effectiveness of operations. To date, Direct Relief PR has overseen over 400 projects.

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL asked Rodríguez how Puerto Rico’s emergency response has improved since Direct Relief established itself on the island.

“Our primary health centers are definitely much more prepared because they are better equipped now than they were four years ago before Maria.

It was demonstrated with earthquakes when they were able to respond with mobile units; with COVID, they had the refrigerators ready and had the facility to store the COVID vaccines. I think there is much more communication and at the same time, that makes collaboration easier,” she affirmed.

Direct Relief PR is also working on transforming Puerto Rico into an emergency response hub for the Caribbean region. For example, the team was able to provide assistance to Haiti following the deadly earthquake last August, the first time the island’s division responded to another country’s plight. The goal, she said, is to “have facilities here in Puerto Rico... for us to have in a warehouse the medicine, medical equipment, everything that is needed at the time of responding to an emergency.”

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Cooking With My Doctor Reports Substantial Growth

Puerto Rican company ready to export to U.S. market

C Giovanna Garofalo

ggarofalo@wjournalpr.com

@giopgarofalo

ooking With My Doctor, a Puerto Rican cooking seasonings brand, reported substantial sales growth over the last year, paving the way to export the line’s products to the U.S. In 2020, the product line under the brand reached a 313 percent growth in sales compared to 2019, and a 90 percent market distribution rate. During the first half of 2021, the brand also grew 70 percent compared to the same period in 2020. Renzo Casillo, a marketing and food promotion executive and a key player in the brand’s growth trends, explained that an aggressive marketing strategy paired with islandwide lockdowns over the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the brand’s success.

“It helps that in 2020 we were all at home.

So, the topic of cooking at home gained more relevance in the pandemic because we all stayed home, and trying that type of item and using it at home helped the growth be of that magnitude.

What satisfies us the most is that the buyback and loyalty are very high. Our focus has always been on us being the preferred, not the greatest. If it is the preferred product and over time we get bigger, that’s good, but for now, our focus is that the customers who try us adopt us as their favorite,” Casillo told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. The brand’s integration of rich flavors and healthy ingredients have bolstered consumer interest at a time when people have become more conscientious of their health. Cooking With My Doctor was launched in 2018 by Chef Rafael Barrera and Dr. Alfred Herger Anadón, following the duo’s success with a local TV segment of the same name, in which they elaborated nutritious and delicious recipes. Casillo said the brand has invested roughly $2 million so far, and expects to sustain its growth.

What sets Cooking With My Doctor apart from other seasoning lines? Their products use formulas with herbs, spices and “superfoods” that provide healthier ways to cook without sacrificing flavor.

For instance, most of their seasonings contain turmeric, also known as curcumin, which is not typically consumed in Puerto Rican cuisine.

The National Center for Biotechnology

The seasonings are available in different sizes, and are sold in 91 percent of the island’s supermarkets. >Courtesy

With My Doctor generates 350 direct and indirect Information of the U.S. National Library of jobs locally.

Medicine reports that this spice “aids in the “We try to buy local ingredients. When the management of oxidative and inflammatory ingredient exists in local agriculture, we buy it. conditions, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, anxiety In the case of sofrito, we have coriander, sweet and hyperlipidemia. Turmeric may also help in the pepper and recao, which are bought locally. management of exercise-induced inflammation However, there are products and muscle soreness, thus that we do not produce in Puerto enhancing recovery and Rico and that must be imported. performance in active people.”

But they are all manufactured, The items are currently sold in bottled and labeled in Puerto 91 percent of supermarkets and All products Rico,” Casillo affirmed. food establishments in Puerto under the Cooking The Cooking with my Doctor Rico. In addition, the brand is With My Doctor label product line includes Garlic Paste sold on Amazon, so buyers from are manufactured in (Pasta de Ajo) formulated with other markets may experience Puerto Rico, in the turmeric, cilantro and parsley; healthy Puerto Rican cooking. company’s plants Cooking Base (Sofrito) with Given its success, the brand’s in Ponce and Juana turmeric, sweet peppers and distributor, Caribbean Produce, Díaz. cilantro; BBQ Seasoning (Adobo) informed that they will also be with turmeric and moringa; Allsold in Wegmans supermarkets in Purpose Seasoning (Sazón) with the U.S. mainland in the next five turmeric and moringa, and the weeks.

Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste.

Félix López, the general manager of Caribbean 100% Made in Puerto Rico Produce, reported that of all the brands managed Casillo underscored that all products under the by the company, Cooking With My Doctor ranks Cooking With My Doctor label are manufactured third when competing with internationally in Puerto Rico, in the company’s plants in Ponce developed lines, but first place among locally and Juana Díaz, employing “hundreds of workers” manufactured products. between the two facilities. He added that Cooking

In fact,

11 < The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Con la participación de • Jorge Luis Ramos • Jorge “Molusco” Pabón • Alexandra Malagón • Lucienne Hernández • Israel Lugo • José Manuel “Chelo” • Sully Díaz

La historia de una unidad de encubiertos de la Policía que tras sufrir la pérdida de uno de sus miembros se dan a la tarea de encontrar al responsable de su muerte. Con mucho suspenso pero también humor, Sangre Azul narra el drama humano que viven los efectivos de la Policía de nuestro país, quienes a diario arriesgan sus vidas, en aras de imponer el orden y la justicia social en la isla.

SERIE DE 6 EPISODIOS

No te lo pierdas, comenzando el domingo 3 de octubre a las 8:00pm por

.com

12

/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

GiGi Rodríguez,

Attorney and Avid Home Cook

Mamá, Borinquen Me Llama families waiting excitedly for their loved ones to clear the baggage claim area were nowhere to be seen, save for a couple of people, replaced instead by a COVID checkpoint and healthcare workers that I’m told people call “Los Minions” because of their yellow and blue uniforms. As a kid I would wait with my mother and brother for what seemed like eternity in the pickup area, standing on my tiptoes to see if I could spot my Abuela circling the airport to pick us up, desperate for the respite of the car A/C and maybe a Happy Meal once we made the one hour journey to Ponce.

This time around, I wandered around a strangely desolate airport pickup area following the signs to meet Erik the Uber driver at the rideshare area. I used to say that you could blindfold me and I would

recognize that airport just by the smell of the hot air and humidity the second you step out the automatic doors. If it weren’t for the sound of the coquis and the blast of humidity, I’m not sure I would have immediately recognized this place I had passed through a million times before.

Visiting Puerto Rico for the first time in a while felt like going to a class reunion and bumping into a good looking ex. When did you become so beautiful? Or were you always this way and I just was too stupid to notice? I’m happy for you but damn, it does hurt a little.

Immigrants and their children (or whatever you would classify Puerto Ricans in the mainland who, technically speaking, are not immigrants) dine out on nostalgia.

The same place we would often

complain was too hot, too congested, too chaotic now looked fresh and lush. It’s sadly the moment you stop taking a place for granted and the nostalgia kicks in that place stops being your home.

Homesickness is a longing for a home far away from you, but nostalgia for a place is mourning something that no longer exists.

Long after the familial ties are gone and the mother tongue is rendered useless, we cling on to whatever stimulus transports us back - a favorite dessert, the smell of a specific perfume, the opening bars of a favorite song. Even the song my mother taught me speaks of a good plate of arroz con pollo and a decent cup of coffee like other songs bemoan the loss of a great lover.

- Editor’s note: This article was edited due to space constraints.

>Archive

I

was sitting in the back of my mom’s car on the way home one afternoon when she taught me a song: ¡”Mamá! ¡Borinquen me llama! ¡Este país no es el mío!

Borinquen es pura flama, ¡y aquí me muero de frío”!

[Mother, Borinquen calls me/This is not my country/Borinquen is pure flame/ and here I am freezing to death!]

Excitedly, she called my dad to have me sing him my new song over the phone (and knowing myself, I probably refused. The battle against performing on command was constant. I was a diva who refused to work for free). For me it was just a song whose lyrics I barely understood beyond their literal meaning. For my mother, who for much of my childhood talked of going back to Puerto Rico, I think her delight in my learning the song came not just from her own homesickness, but in her desire to have her own children associate Puerto Rico with home, even if it was not where we lived - to share a connection to the island she missed so much.

I thought of this song as my plane touched down in the San Juan airport a few weeks ago, apprehensive of what I would find after to many years away. I had made that journey countless times, frequently enough to only barely notice the subtle changes that came with each visit. I don’t remember when we stopped clapping upon arrival (a practice that I am in the minority in wholeheartedly defending). It must have been around 2001, Post-9/11, when my grandfather could no longer stand right at the gate so that we could see him when we disembarked. Over the years my visits became less frequent as both my personal life and the situation on the island generally made visiting more complicated, and it had been my first time landing at the airport in a few years.

This time around the crowds of

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/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Puerto Rico Breeding Bird Atlas Published

>All photos are courtesy.

A Puerto Rican tody

A sooty tern

The first of its kind in the Caribbean

biodiversity of Puerto Rico. The more we know about their distribution and behavior, the better we will be able to sustain breeding populations in light of changing climate and threats to vulnerable habitats,” Gould explained.

“The results of this voluntary effort provide an initial look at the distribution of 130 breeding bird species from 2004-2009, which can serve as the basis for future comparisons of bird responses to changes in land use and climate in Puerto Rico,” said co-author Wunderle in the preface.

The 325-page atlas contains four chapters in which the authors provide an introduction to the atlas, describe the objectives and methodology of the study, address issues related with changes to habitat and bird life, and the implications of climate change for breeding birds in Puerto Rico.

In a postscript they analyze the need to study the impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria to learn more about how the hurricanes have influenced the distribution and reproduction of birds.

The description of each of the 130 bird species is detailed in 244 pages illustrated with photos, maps, tables and graphs. Also included is a list of bird species in the atlas, including: 73 native residents, 26 exotic, 16 endemic, 13 subspecies endemic and two native and migratory birds.

Some more well-known species included are the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird, the Puerto Rican Oriole, the Puerto Rican Spindalis, the Puerto Rican Tanager, the Northern Mockingbird, the House Sparrow, the Red-legged Thrush, the Gray Kingbird,

the Puerto Rican Woodpecker, the Puerto Rican Tody, the Broad-winged Hawk, the Puerto Rican Owl, the Puerto Rican Emerald, the Cattle Egret, the Brown Pelican, the Willet, the Purple Gallinule, and four species of parrots, among others.

The atlas included others with peculiar names such as the Turkey Vulture, the Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, the Bronze Mannikin, the Yellowcrowned Bishop, the Northern Red Bishop, the Monk Parakeet, the Shiny Cowbird, the Pin-tailed Whydah and the Puerto Rican Bullfinch.

Wunderle said the idea for the study came from a meeting of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (now Birds Caribbean) that took place in July 2003 on Tobago island.

Observers collected evidence of breeding data throughout Puerto Rico and its satellite islands and cays. Each observed behavior was classified within a hierarchy that indicates a higher probability of breeding, from simply “observed” (that is, no evidence of breeding), to evidence of “possible”, “probable” or “confirmed” breeding. The observation points and the breeding behaviors associated with each one were used to develop the distribution maps by means of a geographic information system (GIS).

The atlas can be obtained free of cost in electronic form at the link: FS.USDA.Gov/ treesearch or in printed form in the library of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, which is located in the UPR South Botanical Garden, 1201 Calle Ceiba, in Río Piedras.

T

The Weekly Journal Staff

he International Institute of Tropical Forestry, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, has published a new atlas on breeding birds in Puerto Rico, the first effort of this nature in the Caribbean and Neotropics of the American hemisphere.

William Gould, director of the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub at the USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry and coauthor of the publication, said that “The Puerto Rico Breeding Bird Atlas” provides information on the breeding season and geographic distribution of 130 species of breeding birds in Puerto Rico, its satellite islands and associated keys.

The atlas — authored by scientists Jessica Castro-Prieto, Joseph M. Wunderle, Jr., José Salguero-Faría, Sandra Soto-Bayó, Johann D. Crespo-Zapata, and William A. Gould — includes contributions from 344 volunteer observers from the Puerto Rican Ornithological Society Inc., who made more than 45,500 individual observations of terrestrial and aquatic birds from 2004 to 2009.

“These bird species are part of the richness and

14

>Photos are courtesy of MADMi.

/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

MADMi Presents Retrospective Exhibition of Artist Suzi Ferrer Artist’s work framed in the feminist movement of the 1970s

T

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL Staff

he Museum of Art and Design of Miramar (MADMi) is presenting the first retrospective exhibition of American artist Suzi Ferrer (neé Nudelman, 1940-2006). The exhibition, titled “SUZI FERRER,” studies and analyzes the work produced by the artist during her stay in Puerto Rico from 1965-1975.

After her arrival on the island in 1965, Ferrer joined the Puerto Rican art scene and actively collaborated with commercial galleries and local cultural institutions. Even though the artist had a prolific career on the island - reviews in local newspapers, art encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues bear witness to this - Ferrer’s work fell into oblivion once she moved to California in the late seventies.

“Suzi Ferrer was a pioneer artist in her time, despite her work not being highlighted as she deserves over the years after she left Puerto Rico.

With this exhibition, we seek to vindicate Ferrer’s work and present the powerful message that her pieces carried at a time when the feminist movement was beginning to permeate the artistic world in the United States and the world, and explore their relevance today,” said Nicole Pietri, MADMi’s director.

This exhibition represents an analysis of Ferrer’s work, whose paintings at the beginning of her career in the sixties had a marked influence of Art Brut. In her paintings, Ferrer emphasized the rawness, spontaneity and materiality of the medium. However, from the seventies on, and in tune with other contemporary women artists in the United States and Europe, Ferrer’s work took a conceptual turn by dedicating most of her work to portraying the inequality between men and women, and challenging the dominant male gaze.

“Ferrer’s work is characteristic of proto-feminist pop art, where sexuality and the role of women in intimacy and society are explored. Ferrer, like other Pop artists of her generation, inspired by the feminist movement, broke with tradition creating works that altered the political and social status

quo of the time,” explained Melissa Ramos Borges, guest curator at MADMi. “Historically, art has been a vehicle for social criticism. Suzi Ferrer’s work is full of that revealing element where the artist exposes the roles that society imposes on women and instead seeks to empower them. Today, 50 years later, although there is a path traveled, that struggle for equality continues and certainly validates the importance of presenting this retrospective today,” added Marilú Purcell-Villafañe, chief curator of MADMi. The show is organized chronologically, tracing the various influences present in Ferrer’s work, which range from art brut, pop art, counterculture, feminism and Jungian psychology. The exhibition is the product of an extensive research by Ramos, an art historian and guest curator, and shows the fluidity with which the artist worked in a variety of mediums including drawings, paintings, graphic works and installations. In addition to the works, the exhibition also showcases notes by the artist herself that help clarify her intentions, conceptual concerns and her creative process.

“SUZI FERRER” is now on exhibition until March 26, 2022, Tuesdays to Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.madmi. org.

/ Wednesday, September 29, 2021

15

Plaza Las Américas to Open New Stores and Restaurants

Expands offer ahead of the holiday season

P

The Weekly Journal Staff

laza Las Américas announced the early opening of new stores and restaurants between October and November for the beginning of the 2021 Christmas season, and totaling close to 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

These include the Springfield and Pashon stores, the Mañanitas and Smash Burger restaurants, an MCS service center and a Tesla car showroom.

The relocation of the Casa Febus store was also announced.

“Consumers find in PLAZA the widest offer of fashion, food, services and entertainment under one roof that exists in Puerto Rico,” said Franklin The shopping mall will feature the first Tesla vehicle showroom in Puerto Rico. >All photos are courtesy Domenech, general manager of the shopping center. “This offer strengthens even more with the first level, near the north source. has approximately 300 stores, over 40 food these openings that anticipate the arrival of the Moreover, visitors will also enjoy a more varied establishments and restaurants, and 15 cinema Christmas season, which we trust this year we can gastronomic offer in the shopping center with rooms. With 1.9 million square feet, the shopping celebrate in a big way, with all the joy, rhythm and the opening of Mañanitas, a casual Mexican mall is located in Hato Rey, in the heart of the San variety of events that we are used to,” he added. restaurant, and the Smash Burgers establishment.

Juan metro area.

Springfield will be located on the first level, in Both will be located on the second level, near the a space of about 3,700 square feet, in front of the balcony to the Central Atrium, Sephora store. Springfield offers and will share a common area casual and contemporary fashion as a dining room. Mañanitas is merchandise for men and women a “fast-casual dining” concept of between the ages of 25-35. The Mexican food. They will also have store is expected to open in early a variety of margaritas available October. The Pashon store will Plaza Las to accompany their dishes. also open in the former Pashmina Américas is the main Right next door, Smash store, on the second level of commercial center Burgers will offer a menu of highthe shopping center, in front of in Puerto Rico and quality homemade burgers with the Amado beauty salon, where the Caribbean, and their traditional companions, as they will have pashminas and has approximately well as a selection of craft beers. accessories for sale.

300 stores, over 40 Due to their privileged location On the first level of the corridor food establishments on the second level of the central between JCPenney and Macy’s, in and restaurants, and atrium, these establishments a space of approximately 2,500 15 cinema rooms. are presented as an alternative square feet, the first Tesla vehicle for consumers for lunch, dinner showroom will open in Puerto or happy hour, as they will offer Rico. This will be located right musical entertainment some days next to the Galeria footwear and of the week. accessories store.

The shopping center’s management also MCS, a health insurance company, will also announced the relocation of Casa Febus, which will open a location in Plaza Las Américas, where move to a more spacious and comfortable space they will temporarily operate in the corridor of of some 8,700 square feet, where the Microsoft the second level, between the Central Atrium and JCPenney, in a space of roughly 2,600 square store previously operated.

Plaza Las Américas is the main commercial Springfield will sell casual and contemporary fashion feet. For the next year, MCS is expected to merchandise for men and women. center in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and occupy its fixed space of 3,300 square feet on

In fact,

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