COMANDOS APPEARS BEFORE SPECIAL NGO COMMISSION

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Representatives of Comandos de Salvamento were summoned by the Special Commission Investigating Funds Given to NGOs to explain how the subsidy granted by the government through the Ministry of Public Health since 1998 is used.

Roberto Cruz, Executive Director of Comandos de Salvamento, explained that since its founding, the humanitarian service organization had been working thanks to collections in the streets and some donations in order to provide emergency services.

For more than 30 years, Comandos de Salvamento faced a series of hardships due to the lack of financial support. At the initiative of the late Representative René Aguiluz, the organization obtained its first financial compensation, and from then until today, it has received a government subsidy, most of which is used to pay for fuel and ambulance repair expenses.

The legislators on the Special Commission expressed their dissatisfaction with a budget cut made in 2017, when former Representative Lorena Peña, president of the Finance and Special Budget Commission, informed them of a reduction of more than 95 thousand dollars that greatly affected emergency operations.

After the meeting and explaining how the institutional funds are managed, the lawmakers stated that they would provide all the necessary support so that Comandos de Salvamento can maintain its budget and thus continue providing free ambulance services to the Salvadoran population.