The new president of Caixa, Daniella Marques, said this Tuesday (5) that the bank and the Ministry of Citizenship are already in talks to speed up the operationalization of benefit payments in case of approval of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) by the National Congress.
The PEC of benefits institutes a state of emergency to allow President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to break the spending ceiling and make use of a series of kindnesses in an election year.
The list includes a temporary expansion of BRL 200 in AuxÃlio Brasil, double payment of AuxÃlio Gás, a BRL 1,000 voucher for self-employed truck drivers and an allowance for taxi drivers. The measures would be valid until the end of the year.
The proposal has already been approved in the Senate and is now awaiting approval from the Chamber of Deputies to be enacted.
Marques said he met with the Minister of Citizenship, Ronaldo Vieira Bento, on Monday (4) to outline an action plan to make payments quickly possible.
The PEC provides that all benefits can be paid as of July, with the exception of the AuxÃlio Brasil surcharge, which would be implemented as of August 1.
“We are already advancing the contractual minutes between the Ministry of Citizenship and Caixa so that, if this PEC is really approved and promulgated, we can get the help to the Brazilians who need it most as quickly as possible”, said Marques.
“This still depends a little on the length of the legislative process, so I can’t say if it will be in July or in the next window, but as it’s an additional layer, we can probably get everything operational quickly,” he said.
The signal was given at a press conference after the inauguration ceremony held at the bank’s headquarters in BrasÃlia.
Marques was appointed to the post after her predecessor, Pedro Guimarães, was the target of allegations of sexual harassment published on the Metrópoles portal on Tuesday (28).
A week after the revelation of the allegations, the new head of the bank justified Bolsonaro’s silence on the episode “because there is no conclusion in this case”.
“President Jair Bolsonaro took the necessary action to protect Caixa’s image, to keep those involved away,” Marques said. “There is no manifestation yet because there is no conclusion in this case.”
Bolsonaro attended the inauguration ceremony, which was closed to the press, but was broadcast on social media. In his speech, he ignored the accusations of harassment against Guimarães and turned the occasion into a political platform.
On Monday (4), when speaking for the first time about the allegations, the Chief Executive was succinct. “The president of Caixa was removed, is that answered? Or rather, he asked for leave, okay?”, he said.
In Marques’ assessment, the priority now needs to be the creation of a safe environment for whistleblowers, but also guaranteeing the “independence of investigations”.
“No one has an interest in persecuting or protecting anyone. Eventually, at this moment, we have to be rigorous and serious and obviously, if it happened, the appropriate punishments will be applied”, he said.
She did not give a deadline for the completion of the investigations. On Thursday (30), Caixa’s board of directors decided to hire an external audit to investigate the facts and track others involved in covering up the harassment episodes.
The new president announced the creation of a direct channel for complaints, called “Diálogo Seguro Caixa”. “It will be an exclusive dialogue channel for women in the next 30 days, directly with me”, she said. According to her, the bank’s 35,000 female employees will be able to use the tool.
Marques also said that he will probably remove all 26 strategic consultants linked to the bank’s presidency and who were appointed by Guimarães, not because they are all involved in the episodes, but because of a “management style”.
The new president also declined to reveal whether she had spoken with Guimarães since his resignation, for a transition from office. She said she prefers to “preserve the former president” as well as his family and the family of possible victims.
Marques also stated that he is unaware of illegalities involving works on the mansion where Guimarães lives in BrasÃlia (DF) and that were paid for by Caixa, as revealed by the Sheet. The interventions were carried out in July 2020 by four employees of a company that has contracts with the public bank to carry out maintenance services in its buildings and branches.
Guimarães’ lawyer, criminalist José Luis Oliveira Lima, confirmed the improvements were made and said they were authorized by the security sector after alleged threats received by the bank’s former president.​
“The former president was threatened,” said the new president. “It is not to my knowledge that there has been any illegality, but if there is, we are committed to investigating,” she said.
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