Governor’s bodyguard paid $144,869 in 2022

Guam taxpayers paid Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero’s bodyguard $144,869.00 in wages last year, according to his earnings statements Kandit received from the Guam Department of Administration.

Guam Police Department officer Anthony John “AJ” Demapan is only one of Ms. Leon Guerrero’s several bodyguards, all of whom are law enforcement officers. All of whom are paid salaries funded by taxpayers to guard her, and not to attend to duties to protect the rest of the people of Guam.

According to the payroll documents, Mr. Demapan was paid $59,523.54 for working 2080 hours in 2022. He was paid an additional $5,671.34 for pay called “Other leave” on the earnings statements. He racked in $17,815.52 in “Premium pay.”

And the taxpayers paid him $61,858.60 in retroactive pay. Unlike the other pay categories, which accumulated every pay period, Mr. Demapan was earning retroactive pay every other pay period during 2022, according to the documents.

The governor’s bodyguard was paid $11,000 more in 2022 than the highest-paid staffers at the governor’s office – two of her four attorneys – are paid now.

Mr. Demapan is on his way to reaching a similar salary level in 2023. According to the earnings statements, which run through April 28, 2023, by mid-April, the police officer had already been paid $44,768.17.

Since January 1, 2021, the bodyguard has been paid $299,380.03 in payroll alone, according to the documents. In 2021, he was paid $109,742.86. Kandit did not request Mr. Demapan’s payroll documents between January 2019, when he became Ms. Leon Guerrero’s bodyguard, through December 2020.

Ms. Leon Guerrero is paid $90,000 annually, according to the law.

The attorney general, a seasoned lawyer, is paid $128,685.

The director of administration, a certified public accountant who manages $1 billion in cash annually, is paid $121,874.68.

Chief of Police Stephen Ignacio, who is several ranks ahead of Mr. Demapan, is paid $122,967.77 annually, or about $22,000 less than his subordinate.

The Police Commander, who is several ranks ahead of Mr. Demapan, makes about $40,000 less than his subordinate, with an annual salary of $101,240.00.

According to the GPD staffing pattern of the more than 200 police officers on Guam, most are paid salaries between $30,000 to $50,000 annually. Some are paid salaries between $60,000 to $80,000, with very few earning more than that. No one at GPD is paid more than Mr. Demapan, according to the staffing pattern. The closest salary to his is that of veteran officer Donald Flickinger, who is paid $124,450 a year.