Unachi Salaries that Defy Panama Pay Scales: Between Autonomy and Privilege
The Unachi crisis revealed how the lack of controls allowed salaries to grow above public sector standards.
As stated by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Felipe Chapman: the average salary paid at the Autonomous University of Chiriquí (Unachi) is the highest of all public universities in the country and exceeds, in some cases, between 60% and 70% the salaries granted in other state entities.
But how do these salaries compare with those at other public universities? Starting with the top authorities, the data reveals significant differences. According to records from the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai), the rector of Unachi, Etelvina Medianero de Bonagas, receives $14,729 per month in salary and representation expenses, exactly the same remuneration as the rector of the University of Panama, Eduardo Flores Castro.
Panama’s Unachi Must Elect a New Rector: They Lack the Power to Reject Etelvina de Bonagas’ Resignation
The Attorney General, Grettel de Allen, addressed a “legal inquiry” submitted by the Ministry of Education regarding the legal authority of the General Council of Education (CGU) to “not accept the resignation” that the rector submitted on May 11. The General University Council (CGU) of the Autonomous University of Chiriquí (Unachi) has the “obligation” to accept the resignation of the rector, Etelvina Medianero de Bonagas, and, therefore, in the next three months must call for elections to fill the vacancy. “The university autonomy held by Unachi does not empower or allow its internal, administrative or governing bodies to refuse to accept the resignation submitted by a public servant working at said institution,” Allen states in the six-page note addressed to Roberto Sevillano, Minister of Education (in charge).
Another Criminal Case Against Unachi and Etelvina de Bonagas Could Open with New Evidence from the Ministry of Education, Warns the Attorney General Luis Gómez
The new documentation that the Ministry of Education (Meduca) said it had in its possession against the rector of the Autonomous University of Chiriquí (Unachi), Etelvina Medianero de Bonagas, could be added as evidence to the investigation that is already being carried out against that university or another criminal case could be opened against her, explained the Attorney General of the Nation, Luis Carlos Gómez pictured below, this Monday.
This new legal offensive by Meduca would add to the judicial siege that the authorities have maintained for more than a year, a period in which the prosecutor’s office has closely followed the trail of the economic assets accumulated by the rector and the members of her closest family circle. Luis Gómez confirmed that the prosecutor’s office is already tracing the financial trail of individuals and companies linked to Bonagas’s circle and will assess whether new documentation should be added to the file or if another investigation should be opened.
