WATCH: UOG spokesman got two pay raises during pandemic, while classrooms were closed

By Johnnie Rosario

johnnie@kanditnews.com

Personnel documents Kandit News requested from the University of Guam reveal Jonas Macapinlac received, not one, but two pay raises over the last year.

Mr. Macapinlac is the UOG spokesman.

Kandit previously reported on a personnel action that increased Macapinlac's salary from $88,829 to $105,129 a year effective March 29, 2021. He now makes more money than every local law enforcement officer, nearly every public school principal, most nurses, some doctors, most prosecutors, his superior - the governor's director of communications, and even the governor and lieutenant governor.

But Mr. Macapinlac didn't always get paid more than Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio. The spokesman, who does not even serve UOG's main academic mission, used to make $82,440 annually - just $2,560 less than Mr. Tenorio earns. But on April 26, 2020, a little more than a month after UOG closed down, the university gave Macapinlac a pay raise to $89,344.36 a year. He wasn't even at work when this happened.

A May 8, 2020 memorandum from UOG acting chief human resources officer Joe Gumataotao to Randy Wiegand, UOG's financial chief, shows the April 26 pay raise was done in error. Mr. Macapinlac's salary was adjusted to a pay raise of $88,829 instead.

In total, Macapinlac's salary has increased by more than 27 percent in just less than one year, and during UOG classrooms's closure.

Macapinlac is part of the classified service in the government of Guam. This means that the only pay raises he should have qualified for are increments of up to three percent every 18 to 24 months based on performance. According to his personnel action, dated April 6, 2021, his 18 percent pay increase is an adjustment “in accordance with BOR Resolution No. 20-02, approved by thee BOR Chairperson and President, adopted February 13, 2020.”

Other highly-paid UOG administrators received outlandish pay raises during the pandemic. The pay raises coincided with UOG’s testimony before senators informing them of an impending tuition hike to pay for personnel and operational costs. Now we know what those increased personnel costs are. Kandit will bring you these stories and more.