AIDS Institute trial press 05/20/99
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Second article
Fas Alzamora storms out of Senate meeting
By EVA LLORENS VELEZ
Of the STAR Staff
Senate Minority Leader Antonio Fas Alzamora stormed out of a Senate closed meeting with Health Secretary Carmen Feliciano to protest the "irregular manner" in which it was carried out.
Fas Alzamora questioned the veil of secrecy behind the meeting, which was scheduled just 24 hours in advance, and which was attended by several legislators and physicians.
"How is it possible for legislators to study and analyze the main and most costly of these government reforms in an executive meeting?" Fas Alzamora asked.
He said he and Sen. Mercedes Otero de Ramos, PDP at-large, sat in the back of the Mujeres Ilustres room and heard Health Secretary Carmen Feliciano compare the health reform to the situation on the island in 1992, when the New Progressive Party came to power.
"That is not what I wanted to hear," he said.
The meeting was scheduled following a resolution filed by Sen. Carlos Davila, NPP-Humacao, last year calling for a probe into health reform in his area. The measure was modified to include all of the island.
He said he left the meeting after complaining that Feliciano has not given him documents about the sale of hospitals which he requested eight months ago to analyze health reform.
Following the four-hour meeting, Feliciano told the STAR that Fas Alzamora did not follow proper procedure when he requested the documents.
Senate Health Committee chairwoman Norma Carranza, NPP-Arecibo, said she held a closed meeting because in open hearings the amount of time for questions is limited. "After two hours, the usher tells me I have to go," she said.
She said closed, executive meetings allow officials to spend more time analyzing issues. "We spent close to an hour on just one question," she said.
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