Transclusion journal
What entered Panama's National Assembly this week: the earthquake sets the agenda and road signage becomes law (October 19–23, 2026).
Nine new draft bills, three responding to the October 9 earthquake, and 17 initiatives that changed stage in Panama's Assembly; Bill 234 is now law.
The week sent two signals from the National Assembly: three of the nine new draft bills respond to the October 9 earthquake, and Bill 234, on road signage in public works, is now law.
Between October 19 and 23, 9 draft bills were introduced and another 17 initiatives changed stage. First, what arrived new; then what moved forward, from the stage closest to law to the earliest. Each summary is the one on its public bill page, unchanged, with a link to the full page.
What's new: the earthquake package and six other fronts
Three draft bills, 212, 214 and 215, address the consequences of the October 9 earthquake: funds for reconstruction, extraordinary use of municipal funds, and economic relief. The other six open different fronts: national drills, school classrooms, asbestos, waste at mass events, a new township and a pharmaceutical free zone.
Draft bill 212
The draft bill authorizes Panama Savings Fund resources to rebuild social infrastructure damaged by the October 9, 2026 earthquake. It proposes funding works in affected areas, allocating funds by category, and setting rules for procurement, oversight, reporting, and repayment.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Economy and Finance. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 214
The draft bill proposes extraordinary use of municipal property tax funds to address the effects of the October 9, 2026 earthquake. It would allow affected municipalities in Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas to reprogram available balances during fiscal years 2026 and 2027. It also sets permitted uses, distribution criteria, controls and reporting duties.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Municipal Affairs. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 213
The draft bill establishes a framework for conducting and evaluating national emergency and disaster preparedness drills in Panama. It sets an annual drill day, identifies participants and assigns coordination to the National Civil Protection System (Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil). It also provides for safety, accessibility, essential service continuity and rescheduling.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 215
The draft bill establishes temporary economic relief for people and businesses affected by the October 9, 2026 earthquake. It proposes income support, grants for productive recovery, a credit moratorium and measures concerning drinking water, together with financing, oversight and reporting rules.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Economy and Finance. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 219
The draft bill proposes a waste management framework for events in public spaces attended by at least 500 people. It would require advance planning, material separation, waste service providers and a closing report; it would also establish penalties, municipal incentives and an adjustment period for organizers and authorities through amendments to Law 33 of 2018.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Population, Environment and Development. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 218
The draft bill proposes exceptional procurement for school classrooms in indigenous territories, rural regions and hard-to-reach areas. It establishes procedures, deadlines, technical requirements, indigenous consultation, financing and public oversight to replace makeshift classrooms. It also amends public procurement rules and assigns approval of these works to the Ministry of Education without a prior Cabinet Council declaration.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Education, Culture and Sports. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 217
The draft bill proposes to prohibit new uses of asbestos and organize the safe management and replacement of installed materials. It would cover all varieties and asbestos-containing products, with customs controls, market withdrawal, waste management and health penalties. It would also establish a national program with public infrastructure priorities, budget obligations and worker protection measures.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Labor, Health and Social Development. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 220
The draft bill would create Villa del Carmen as a corregimiento (township) by separating it from El Guásimo in Donoso. It defines boundaries and communities, amends the territorial division under Law 1 of 1982, and provides for municipal funding, decentralization benefits and institutional advice until the election of its first representative in 2029.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Municipal Affairs. Full bill page (Spanish)
Draft bill 221
The draft bill proposes a pharmaceutical, scientific and health technology free zone operating under a special regime in Panama. It covers production, research, exports, incentives and differentiated health regulatory procedures, with an interagency commission and an Executive Secretariat responsible for advancing development, coordinating investment and facilitating the establishment of businesses.
Status: awaiting committee adoption · Committee: Labor, Health and Social Development. Full bill page (Spanish)
Stage changes
Now law
The only bill that completed its path this week.
Bill 234 (sent to the Executive → law).
The bill would create the National Road Signage Program for Public Works in Panama under the Transit and Land Transportation Authority. It would set measures for marking work zones, planning detours, and reducing traffic congestion. It would also assign duties to local governments and contractors and provide for fines in cases of noncompliance.
On to third debate
One step before final approval.
Bill 724 (second debate → third debate).
The bill proposes approving an addendum to the State’s agreement with the City of Knowledge Foundation and extending its tax exemption regime. Addendum No. 1 amends the fifth clause of the agreement approved by Decree Law No. 6 of February 10, 1998, to extend exemptions from February 13, 2023, through February 12, 2048, subject to contractual compliance, and adds reporting requirements concerning beneficiary companies.
On to second debate
One initiative moved to second debate: the one on donation and transplantation of anatomical components.
Bill 360 (returned from subcommittee review → second debate).
The bill proposes to regulate the donation, recovery, preservation, distribution, and therapeutic transplantation of anatomical components in Panama. It sets conditions for donation during life and after death, criteria for allocating components to recipients, and rules for tissues and hematopoietic cells. It also proposes establishing the Panamanian Institute for Donation and Transplantation (Instituto Panameño de Donación y Trasplante) to coordinate these activities.
In first debate
Six initiatives are in this stage today; three of them arrived this very week, after being adopted by a committee.
Bill 140 (returned from subcommittee review → first debate).
The bill proposes to supersede Law 46 of July 17, 2013 and establish an adoption framework for children and adolescents. The framework gives priority to their remaining with their families of origin and to identifying family care alternatives before a declaration of adoptability. It governs the assessment of prospective adopters, family matching, preadoption care, judicial decisions, subsequent monitoring, international adoption and adoption of adults.
Bill 744 (preliminary → adopted by committee → first debate).
The draft bill proposes a framework for humane care in Panama’s public hospitals, polyclinics, and health centers. It provides rights to information, guidance, support, and responses to complaints. It assigns duties concerning training, wait management, evaluation, and data publication; gives the Ombudsman's Office (Defensoría del Pueblo) oversight functions; and provides for procedures and penalties for noncompliance.
Bill 745 (preliminary → adopted by committee → first debate).
The draft bill proposes transforming IDAAN into the National Water Supply and Sanitation Authority, responsible for providing those services. The autonomous entity would provide water supply and sanitary sewerage services in the areas under its jurisdiction. It organizes the Authority’s leadership, regional offices and rural services, and sets rules for its assets, budget, procurement, personnel, rates, subsidies and dealings with users.
Bill 704 (sent to subcommittee for review → first debate).
The bill proposes school cafeterias in every public school offering the first level of instruction or general basic education. It sets out how they would be funded, organized, and supplied. It also provides for uniforms for students facing economic hardship, following a social assessment, and permits schools to create uniform banks supported by donations. These measures would amend Law 47 of 1946.
Bill 711 (sent to subcommittee for review → first debate → merged → first debate).
The bill proposes a national policy for generational renewal and voluntary retirement for public servants with old age pension rights. Eligible public servants must also meet the service requirement. It provides for institutional plans, calls for applications, an application procedure, and a financial incentive based on salary and years of service. It also governs funding, monitoring, and a ban on returning to public-sector employment after receiving the incentive.
Bill 746 (preliminary → adopted by committee → first debate).
The draft bill proposes expanding discounts and benefits under Law 6 of 1987 for retirees, pensioners and older adults. These cover health care, housing, utilities and administrative services. It also sets rules on price display and priority service, revises enforcement and fines, provides a tax credit for discounts granted, and creates a fund to compensate microenterprises that provide them.
Adopted by a committee
Three draft bills were adopted by a committee and continue through the process.
Bill 753 (preliminary → adopted by committee).
The draft bill recognizes the International Tasting Festival benefiting the Santiago chapter of ANCEC in Veraguas Province as an annual event. It creates a Patronato to organize the Festival and manage its resources, and sets rules for its membership and operations, the use of proceeds, financial controls and transparency. It also provides for the Festival’s continuity while the new body is being established.
Bill 754 (preliminary → adopted by committee).
The draft bill proposes a gradual strengthening of food service facilities in Panama’s public schools. It would authorize the Ministry of Education to plan construction, equipment and management arrangements subject to available resources. It also addresses local sourcing, community use of facilities, emergency response and public access to information.
Bill 755 (preliminary → adopted by committee).
The draft bill proposes establishing the National Arts and Crafts and Folklore Festival of La Arena de Chitré as an annual celebration. It would be based in the corregimiento (township) of La Arena; it would create a board with institutional and community representatives to organize the event, manage its resources, and publish its program and budget. It also sets rules for participation, governance, accountability, and oversight of public funds.
Sent to a subcommittee for review
Four bills that were in first debate went to a subcommittee for closer review.
Bill 375 (first debate → sent to subcommittee for review).
The bill proposes to amend Article 85 of Law 22 of June 27, 2006, governing the special procedure for emergency procurement. It sets conditions for authorizing and using that procedure, rules on bonds and payments, purchases from foreign companies, the submission and publication of reports, the disposition of unused goods, and prior consultation of the virtual store.
Bill 738 (first debate → sent to subcommittee for review).
The bill proposes to recognize gestational grief and set guidelines for physical, emotional and psychosocial care for a woman and her family. The care concerns a loss during pregnancy or childbirth. It also sets rules on consent for the release or use of remains, paid employment leave, protection for female public employees and public awareness activities.
Bill 740 (first debate → sent to subcommittee for review).
The bill amends Law 40 of August 26, 1999 and the Criminal Code to establish exceptional criminal liability for offenses against life. This liability would apply to children aged ten or eleven who commit specified offenses. It regulates assessments of criminal capacity, procedural safeguards, penalties and their enforcement. It also addresses adults who use minors to commit those offenses and the potential liability of parents or legal guardians.
Bill 726 (first debate → sent to subcommittee for review).
The bill proposes to link school milk supplies to documented purchases of fresh milk from domestic producers. It changes the Complementary Feeding and Studying Without Hunger programs for that purpose. It sets minimum coverage, deadlines for launching procurement and starting deliveries, and rules for allocating contracts proportionally at a single prescribed price.
One archived initiative
There was also one closure without approval.
Bill 718 (sent to subcommittee for review → merged → archived).
The bill proposes a financial incentive program for pensioned or retired public servants who voluntarily leave public employment. It sets eligibility requirements, a calculation method and a payment ceiling, while excluding specified positions. It also provides for payment of employment benefits upon separation, bars subsequent state employment for recipients, and assigns implementation duties to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas).
The next edition comes out on Friday, October 30. In the meantime, each Transclusion bill page shows the status and history of its initiative. This note is tracking information, not legal advice.
Source: public bill pages on Transclusion, with data from the National Assembly. Edition of October 23, 2026.