How much does the Office of the Peace Commissioner and the other positions that would disappear in the new government of Abelardo De La Espriella cost?

Abelardo De La Espriella, the president-elect of Colombia, announced last Sunday, July 12, that he will eliminate at least 229 positions from the Presidency of the Republic, which would generate savings of 10 billion pesos annually. 

The measure, as he mentioned, would come into effect on August 7 and would serve to transform the entity’s structure into an “executive coordination center, with a staff without ties and without positions to pay for political favors or bureaucratic quotas.” The incoming president did not specify how the positions would be distributed among the mentioned departments. 

Among the departments that would disappear is the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP), headed by Otty Patiño, which will be renamed Commissioner for Security. Additionally, the Presidential Advisory Office for National Reconciliation; the Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; and the Unit for the Implementation of the Final Agreement, headed by Gloria Cuartas, are included.

To these would be added some state agencies. However, the president-elect did not specify which ones would be eliminated. 

In the case of the OACP, the 149 temporary positions —shared with the Special Programs for Peace Fund— cost the State approximately 34.769 billion pesos per year, after applying salary increases from the last three fiscal years. 

The information corresponds to a review by the EL TIEMPO Data Unit of the staff and salary decrees of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre), the Public Function’s State Structure Manual, and public information regarding the costs of the mentioned staff. 

According to a petition answered by the entity and disclosed by Paloma Valencia, senator of the Democratic Center, for the 2023 fiscal year, that department —responsible for the Government’s peace policy— had a total cost of 28.539 billion pesos for a total of 149 temporary positions. 

According to that document, the salaries for these positions totaled 19.924 billion pesos; social benefits 1.152 billion pesos and other non-salary benefits 584 million pesos. Added to this were the contributions inherent to the payroll, such as health, pension, severance pay, and compensation fund, which amounted to 6.878 billion pesos. 

The following year, in 2024, with a projected increase of 10.5 percent, the cost rose to 30.369 billion pesos. For 2025, that amount saw a 7 percent increase, according to Decree 0611 of that year, and would have a value of approximately 32.495 billion pesos, if calculations are made maintaining the values reported in previous years.

The most recent increase was for the current fiscal year, established in Decree 0311 of March 25 of this year. In this, a 7 percent increase was set, bringing the total amount to 34.769 billion pesos —which only includes the payroll for the positions mentioned between the Office and the Special Programs for Peace Fund, which are not itemized—. 

As explained by the entity in May 2025, “being a dependency of the Presidency of the Republic, it does not have administrative and financial autonomy, and therefore does not have its own operating and investment resources.” These are appropriated through the Fondo Paz in a single ‘budgetary pool’, which includes the Advisory Office, the Fund, and peace processes. 

The highest remunerated position for the OACP is that of the Advisory Commissioner for Peace. Article 5 of Decree 0311 of 2026 establishes that the monthly salary for this position, held by Otty Patiño, will be the same “as that received for all concepts by the position of Director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic.” In Decree 0312 of the same year, the established amount was 30,770,246 pesos. 

The value is divided into a basic allocation of 8,418,751 pesos, representation expenses of 14,966,638 pesos, and a management bonus of 7,384,857 pesos. If that total is multiplied by the 12 months of the year, the remuneration exceeds 369 million pesos annually.

It is worth mentioning that on December 29, 2023, President Gustavo Petro signed the decree that created the temporary staff, which was added to the 13 positions the Office had since 2017. The expansion was justified by “the challenges imposed by the effort to achieve Total Peace” and established that the positions would be of free appointment and removal. Funding would come from the budget of the Peace Fund, created by Law 368 of 1997. 

Regarding the Advisory Office for National Reconciliation —which promotes reconciliation as a transformation of social relations based on violence—, the Advisory Office for Human Rights —which advises the President on comprehensive human rights policy—, and the Unit for the Implementation of the Final Agreement, the composition of their staff is unknown. However, the amount allocated to the directors of each is known. 

Article 7 of Decree 0311 of 2026 establishes that the presidential advisors for National Reconciliation and Human Rights receive 19,263,115 pesos monthly —approximately 231,157,380 pesos annually in base salary—. 

For its part, for the Implementation Unit, which depends on the Office and is responsible for the execution of the peace agreement signed with the Farc in 2016, in Article 8 of that decree, a fixed remuneration of 18,372,728 pesos is established for the head of the Implementation Unit —approximately 220,472,736 pesos annually in base salary—. 

SABRINA BASTIDAS IGUARÁN

DATA UNIT