Spanish
Santo Domingo.– In the accountability act of the National Congress, the president of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos, presented the main achievements during his management corresponding to the period August 2024–August 2025.
During his intervention, De los Santos highlighted the progress in key areas such as legislation, internal administration, institutional strengthening, citizen representation, and parliamentary diplomacy.You may be interested in: President Abinader dismisses new Fulbright-MESCyT 2025-2027 scholars
One of the most important achievements highlighted by the President of the Senate was the 40th reform of the Constitution of the Republic. This modification included the strengthening of the Public Ministry, the reduction in the number of deputies, the reorganization of the National Council of the Magistracy, and the unification of presidential, congressional, and municipal elections. He also highlighted that of the 60 laws enacted to date, 50 were proposed by legislators, which reflects, according to him, the commitment of Congress to the development of the country. He also reported that in the evaluated period, the Senate received 907 legislative initiatives, of which 491 were approved, including laws, resolutions, agreements and contracts. One of the most relevant moments of the event was the presentation of a video that showed the work carried out during the extraordinary legislature convened by the Executive Branch. In this legislature, the Organic Law of the new Penal Code was approved, which incorporates sanctions for modern crimes such as contract killing, femicide, harassment, corruption, and sexual activity without consent, among others. The new code also contemplates sentences of up to 60 years. Other relevant laws passed were: the Real Estate Rental and Eviction Law, the Organic Law of the Ministry of Justice, the Public Procurement Law, the Family Property Law, and the one that creates the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI). Key articles of the Law on Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons, and of the Organic Law of the Superior Electoral Tribunal were also reformed. In administrative terms, the legislator of Sánchez Ramírez highlighted a better budget execution and infrastructure improvements. “We close out the year 2024 with a positive balance, thanks to efficient management,” he/she stated. In addition, he mentioned that the Senate obtained the international ISO 9001:2015 certification in Human Management for the first time, which reaffirms, as he said, the institutional commitment to quality and continuous improvement. The use of cutting-edge technology such as the Dynamics 365 system was also expanded to optimize internal processes. In the realm of representation, De los Santos valued the guided tours of the Senate, where thousands of citizens, including students, community leaders, and members of the armed forces, learned about the legislative work up close. "With the 'Senator for a Day' program, we encourage citizen participation and strengthen democracy," he expressed. Regarding parliamentary diplomacy, he highlighted the holding of the First International Meeting "Parliaments and Prosperity", in which representatives from Chile, Uruguay, Panama, the OAS, the business sector and academia participated. The event sought to promote sustainable development, inclusion and artificial intelligence as tools for better legislation. Finally, Ricardo de los Santos thanked the support received from the senators, spokespersons and the directive office, and reiterated his commitment to continue working with transparency, principles and values.
