P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 636
The Puerto Rico Cooperative Development Commission shall be directed by a Commissioner, who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico, and shall have standing as a Secretary of the Executive Cabinet of the Governor. The compensation for the office of Commissioner, who shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor, shall be fixed by the latter, taking into account the compensations established for the Secretaries of the Executive Departments. The person thus designated shall be well known for his/her professional capabilities and independent thinking, has excelled for his/her commitment to the defense of the Cooperative Movement and social economy, and with expertise in the development of cooperative, community or educational initiatives.
Furthermore, he/she may not have financial interests in any private financial institution other than [shareholdings] and/or deposits in an insured Cooperative Savings and Credit Union or in another depository institution. The Governor may, with no impairment to his/her constitutional prerogatives, request and receive recommendations from the Cooperative Movement and the social economy sector regarding possible candidates to hold such office.
In addition to the powers, duties, and functions conferred by other laws, including the present chapter, the Cooperative Development Commissioner shall have all such powers, duties, authorities, attributions, and prerogatives as are inherent to his/her office, among which the following are listed, not to constitute a limitation:
(a) To be the executive arm of the Commission and to discharge all such functions, duties, and authorities entrusted to the Cooperative Development Administrator under Act No. 89 of June 21, 1966, as amended, and other applicable laws; Provided, That any action as pertains to rulemaking and public policymaking shall correspond to the Governing Board of the Commission and require the affirmative vote of at least seven (7) out of the ten (10) members.
(b) To chair the Governing Board of the Commission as well as the Board of the Corporation.
(c) To be responsible for the coordination and supervision of government efforts involving the Cooperative Movement.
(d) To coordinate the administration and operations of attached entities, as well as the communications, public relations, and promotional campaigns of the Commission and its components, pursuant to the norms, goals, objectives, and public policy set forth by the Governing Board.
(e) To conduct, as entrusted by the Governing Board or on his/her own, studies and research on economic, social, and other issues appertaining to the Cooperative Movement and its development.
(f) To coordinate, plan, and develop special projects that further the Cooperative Movement.
(g) To advise the Governor and the Legislature of Puerto Rico on all matters relative to the mission and functions of the Commission.
(h) To seek the effective and efficient operation of the Commission and the attached entities as a harmonious whole.
(i) To execute agreements with Cooperative Movement organizations and others of a similar nature, including public and private educational institutions, in aiming to carry out educational activities in collaboration with the latter, as well as to render technical services to such organizations, in harmony with the objectives of this chapter.
(j) To promote, by any means he/she may deem necessary, the involvement of citizens and the Cooperative Movement in the functions of the Commission.
(k) Save for the management of the administrative affairs of the Commission, any powers, authorities, duties or functions conferred onto the Commissioner may be delegated onto Commission officials or employees and/or the attached entities only under the parameters previously defined by the determination or the bylaws duly adopted by the Governing Board.
(l) To gather, interpret, and publish Cooperative Movement statistics.
(m) To require from the entities and/or cooperatives attached thereto any necessary, pertinent, and specialized information to carry out its responsibilities.
(n) To issue summonses to require the appearance of witnesses and the presentation of documents, data or other information as pertinent to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The Commissioner may also, on his/her own or through his/her representative duly authorized in writing, take oaths and receive testimony, data or information. If a summons or requirement for documents, data or information were not to be observed, recourse shall be sought at the Court of First Instance to request an order mandating compliance with such summons or requirement, under penalty of contempt. Any verbal or written information obtained by the Commissioner under his/her orders shall be kept under strict confidentiality.
The compelling interest of the Government in keeping this information confidential lies with the fact that such information submitted by any entity or person might constitute a trade secret or infringe any right of the third party furnishing such information, or give rise to any other presumable situation in which keeping the confidentiality of the information furnished to the Commissioner could be validly requested. The use of such information shall be allowable only for purposes such as studies, surveys or research, or in seeking to comply with the law.
It shall be unlawful, without the previous written authorization of the person who furnished any data, to disclose or make public any such data obtained with the purpose of conducting a study, survey or research under these provisions, and any infringement of this provision shall constitute a crime punishable by a fine not greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year. If the person thus convicted is an official or employee of the Government of Puerto Rico, he/she shall also be removed from office.
(o) By advice of the Governing Board, the Commissioner may acquire any kind of goods and rights over the same in any lawful manner, including but not to be construed to be limited to, acquisition by purchase, whether under an agreement or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain, lease, legacy, bequest or donation, and to own, keep, lease, use, pledge, mortgage or otherwise encumber, assign, and exploit any subsidiaries and/or affiliates or parts thereof. To such effect, the following is hereby established:
(1) It is hereby declared to be of public use, all real or personal properties and all rights or interests over the same as the Commission may deem necessary to acquire in order to accomplish its ends and purposes, for which reason, the same may be expropriated by the request and for the use and benefit of the Commission, subject to the requirement of previous declaration of public use as provided for in the Special Procedures Act of March 12, 1903, as amended.
(2) When the Governor deems it necessary and convenient for the deed over the goods and rights thus acquired or to be acquired to be registered directly to the name of the Commission, he/she may so request before the court at any time within the exercise of eminent domain and the court shall so order.
(3) The Commission shall advance funds as necessary as per the estimation of the value of the goods or rights that are to be acquired. Any sum in addition to the consigned amount that the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, Eminent Domain Part, may fix by judgment as the fair compensation to be paid for the property seized or impaired for the benefit of the of the Commission, shall be paid by the Commission, or in default thereof, by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, but the Commission shall be under the obligation to refund such additional sum. Once the complete refund has been made, the title deed to the property or right in question shall be transferred to the Commission by court order upon presentation of proof thereof.
History —Aug. 10, 2008, No. 247, § 12, eff. Feb. 1, 2009.