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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 4

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

o	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

Name and Address of ReportingPerson*

Issuer Name and Ticker ~~orTrading~~or ~~Symbol~~TradingSymbol

I.R.S. Identification Number of ReportingPerson, if an entity (Voluntary)

GARCIA RODRIGUEZ, AIDA

FIRST BANCORP (FBP)

###-##-####

PASARELL COLON, DACIO A.(Last) (First) (Middle)

First BanCorp (FBP)

(Last) (First) (Middle)

PARQUE DE SAN IGNACIO CALLE 1 NUM. A-38(Street)

Statement for Month/Day/Year

If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)

URB MARINA BAHIA MA-10 PUNTA SALINA ST

Statement for Month/Day/Year

If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)

November 13, 2002

SEPTEMBER 2002

(Street)

Relationship of Reporting Person(s)to Issuer (Check All Applicable)

Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)

CATANO PR 00962 (City) (State) (Zip)

Director

10% Owner

Form Filed by One Reporting Person

SAN JUAN, PR 00921 (City) (State) (Zip)

Director

10% Owner

Form Filed by One Reporting Person

Officer (give title below)

Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person

Other (specify below)

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Reminder:		Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.

*		If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see instruction 4(b)(v).

Table I — Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned

Title of Security(Instr. 3)

TransactionDate(Month/Day/Year)

2A.

Deemed ~~Exe-cution Date~~ExecutionDate, if any(Month/Day/Year)

TransactionCode(Instr. 8)

Securities Acquired (A) orDisposed of (D)(Instr. 3, 4 and 5)

Amount of Sec-urities BeneficiallyOwned FollowingReported Trans-action(s)(Instr. 3 and 4)

OwnershipForm:Direct (D) orIndirect (I)(Instr. 4)

Nature ofIndirectBeneficialOwnership(Instr. 4)

Code

Amount

~~(A)or(D)~~

~~Price~~(A)or(D)

Price

FIRST BANCORP'S COMMON STOCK

09-09-2002

4,000

$15.6250

EXERCISE OF OPTION UNDER EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTION PLAN

09-09-2002

2,000

$19.6250

6,000

N/A

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Table II — Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1.	Title of DerivativeSecurity(Instr. 3)	2.	Conversion or ExercisePrice of DerivativeSecurity		3.	TransactionDate(Month/Day/Year)	3A.	Deemed ExecutionDate, if any(Month/Day/Year)	4.	TransactionCode(Instr. 8)		5.	Number of Derivative SecuritiesAcquired (A) or Disposed of (D)(Instr. 3, 4 and 5)
										Code	V		(A)	(D)
	Exercise Option to purchase common stock			$15.6250		09-09-2002				X				4,000
	FIRST BANCORP COMMON STOCK-OPTION TO BUY			$25.99		11/13/2002				A			10,000
	Exercise Option to purchase common stock			$19.6250		09-09-2002				X				2,000

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Table II — Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned — Continued(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
6.	Date Exercisable andExpiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7.	Title and Amount of Underlying Securities(Instr. 3 and 4)		8.	Price of DerivativeSecurity(Instr. 5)		9.	Number of Derivative SecuritiesBeneficially Owned FollowingReported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)		10.	Ownership Form of Derivative Security:Direct (D) orIndirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11.	Nature ofIndirectBeneficialOwnership(Instr. 4)
	DateExercisable	ExpirationDate		Title	Amount orNumber ofShares
	11-25-1997	11-25-2007		First BanCorp	4,000
	11/13/2002	11/13/2012		FIRST BANCORP COMMON STOCK	10,000			$25.99			10,000		D
	11-23-1999	11-23-2009		First BanCorp	2,000						9,000		D

Explanation of Responses:

/s/ Aida Garcia Rodriguez		9/10/02
/s/ Dacio A. Pasarell Colon		11/13/02
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

**		Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:		File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

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