Padilha is the champion of trips on FAB jets.
In the first half of this year alone, federal authorities made 1.664 requests for the use of official aircraft, an increase of almost 39% compared to the requests registered in the first half of Dilma Rousseff's government in 2011. The Minister of Health alone took off 110 times, mostly to or from São Paulo, from where he may run for governor of the state for the Workers' Party (PT). This data will be analyzed by the Senate to investigate possible abuses.
247 – According to a list of trips provided by the Brazilian Air Force to Estadão newspaper, in the first half of this year alone, federal authorities made 1.664 requests for the use of official aircraft, an increase of almost 39% compared to requests made in the first half of Dilma Rousseff's government in 2011.
The Ministry of Defense has 30 days to send the Senate a list of flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) from 2010 to this year. The request, authored by the leader of the PSDB in the Senate, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (SP), was approved in the early afternoon by the House's Board of Directors.
According to the request, the senators want information about the authorities who flew on FAB (Brazilian Air Force) planes during that period, who their companions were, the destinations and departure and arrival times of the flights, and how many times each authority boarded the Air Force planes.
However, the Air Force states that the list of passengers on each trip will not be revealed. The justification is that the passenger list is discarded after the plane arrives at its destination.
Without the names of the companions, monitoring for potential abuses will be hampered.
In the first half of this year, the champion of trips on FAB (Brazilian Air Force) flights was the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, who took off 110 times, mostly from or to São Paulo, where he has a permanent residence. He explains, through his press office, that the agenda to agree on policies for the Unified Health System (SUS) throughout the country requires the use of aircraft. Currently, he is the PT's (Workers' Party) candidate to run for governor of São Paulo.
In the ranking of those who fly most frequently for the FAB (Brazilian Air Force), the ministers of Development, Fernando Pimentel (101), Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo (91), and Sport, Aldo Rebelo (81) appear. The ministers claim to comply with the rules of Presidential Decree 4.244, which regulates transportation by the FAB, and attribute the frequent flights to their extensive list of duties throughout the country.
In recent days, at least three allegations of irregularities in the use of FAB (Brazilian Air Force) flights have been published in the press, involving the presidents of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), and the Chamber of Deputies, Henrique Eduardo Alves (PMDB-RN), and the Minister of Social Security, Garibaldi Alves Filho. The minister traveled to Rio de Janeiro on a Brazilian Air Force plane to attend the final game of the Confederations Cup on June 30th.
The case of Congressman Henrique Alves, who also traveled on a Brazilian Air Force plane to attend the Confederations Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, is being investigated by the Federal Prosecutor's Office in the Federal District. Senator Renan Calheiros traveled to Trancoso, Bahia, earlier this month to attend the wedding of a daughter of the government leader in the Senate, Eduardo Braga (PMDB-AM).