By The Star Staff
Caridad Pierluisi Urrutia, the governor’s sister and director of his office at La Fortaleza, said Thursday she is willing to submit ethics reports to the Government Ethics Office if the law is changed.
“We had already made this query to Ethics, because we wanted to be sure that we were doing things correctly and the reality is that the position that I occupy does not, it does not need to render anything ethical,” Pierluisi Urrutia told reporters. “Now, if the law changes, then of course it does [need to file reports with the Ethics Office]. If not, there is nothing wrong with doing that, the other way around.”
The island House of Representatives intends to pass a bill to require the governor’s sister, and any future person who holds that position, to file reports with the Office of Government Ethics.
The move comes after it was revealed that the La Fortaleza official’s husband, Andrés Guillemard, may have been involved with a political action committee, Salvemos a Puerto Rico, that supported the governor’s primary campaign and which is at the center of an alleged scheme involving illegal donations. The governor has denied the allegation.
Pierluisi stated that he would have to evaluate the measure before answering whether he would sign it into law.
“Let’s see if what it does is prudent and reasonable,” he said. “One does not legislate for a particular person. Usually you legislate based on a situation and you have to justify it. In other words, what I can verify is that she has complied with all the demands and requirements made by the Office of Government Ethics. That is what I can say. If those requirements or those regulations change, if the law changes, well, I’m also sure that she will comply with that. That is what I can tell you.”