NO LICENSING PLANS.
February 12, 2009
“The Puerto Rico Advertising Agencies Association has no wish to become a licensing body with power to sanction industry members but intends to remain a strictly voluntary group devoted to advancing the local advertising industry,” said association President Carmen Cedre.
She was reacting to the Lopito, Ileana & Howie (LIH) imbroglio, which was the focus of a recent discussion by the group’s eight-member board. An LIH official recently told the jury in the corruption trial of former Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá that the company camouflaged illegal contributions to Acevedo Vilá’s resident commissioner and gubernatorial campaigns by billing donors for services never rendered. LIH benefited from its connection with Acevedo Vilá to the tune of millions of dollars in government contracts.
“Not being a professional association, we don’t have the power to sanction industry members as is the case of such regulated professions as law, medicine or accounting. Nevertheless, the association doesn’t support any type of activity that breaks state or federal laws. The billing procedures highlighted in the trial of Acevedo Vilá aren’t representative of the management processes of Puerto Rico’s advertising industry,” the group said in a press release.
For more information at: http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com
