Jose Callangan Calida (born July 7, 1950)
is a Filipino lawyer. He previously served as
Undersecretary of Justice and executive director of
Dangerous Drugs Board under the
Arroyo administration, as
Solicitor General
A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...
under the
Duterte administration, and as Chairman of
Commission on Audit (COA) under the
Marcos administration.
During his time as a Solicitor General, Calida is a controversial figure on the issues regarding the
shutdown
Shutdown or shut down may refer to:
* Government shutdowns
* Shutdown (computing)
* Shutdown (economics)
* Shutdown (nuclear reactor)
Arts and entertainment Music
* "Shut Down" (The Beach Boys song), 1963
* '' Shut Down Volume 2'', a 1964 album ...
of television network
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Life and education
Calida was born in Nuevo Iloco,
Davao (present-day
Mawab,
Davao de Oro
Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Nabunturan while Monkayo is the most populous. It used to be part ...
).
A born again Christian, he is married to Milagros Parantar Ordaneza who is also from Davao with whom he has three children.
Calida holds a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
degree in English from the
Ateneo de Davao University
Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU; ) is a private Catholic basic and higher education institution in Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines. It is run by the Philippine Jesuit Province. Before the Jesuits took over administration of the schoo ...
in 1969. He studied law at the
Ateneo de Manila University Law School where he was a dean's lister. He graduated in 1973 and was admitted to the Bar the following year with a general average of 83.25 percent (the highest grade of 100 percent in Criminal Law, 90 percent in Civil Law and 90 percent in Taxation) in the 1974
Philippine Bar Examination
The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee.
History
...
.
Calida is a member of the
Aquila Legis Fraternity.
Career
Calida is a practicing lawyer and founding partner of J. Calida & Associates law firm based in Davao del Sur. He served as secretary general of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption during the administration of President
Fidel Ramos
Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...
and was the convenor of the God's People's Coalition for Righteousness that staged protests and prayer rallies against the proliferation of pornography and smut films in the 1990s. In 1997, he led the group called Support the Initiatives for the Good of the Nation or SIGN which pushed for Charter Change through people's initiative and helped the Pirma movement gather signatures to allow then President Fidel Ramos to run for reelection through a plebiscite.
He also co-founded the
party list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
group called
Citizens' Battle Against Corruption and served as its president in 1997.
Calida was a member of the prosecution team during the impeachment
trial of President Joseph Estrada in 2000. Following the
Second EDSA Revolution
The Second EDSA Revolution (), also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced ''EDSA Two'' or ''EDSA Dos'', the Spanish word for "two"), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001 which peacefully ...
, he was appointed by the newly installed President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...
as the Undersecretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Secretaries
Hernando B. Perez in 2001,
Merceditas Gutierrez
Ma. Merceditas Consunji Navarro Gutierrez (born September 24, 1948) is a Filipino government official who is currently serving as member of the board of trustees of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Following her graduation from the ...
in 2002, and
Simeon Datumanong in 2003. As Justice Undersecretary, he was in charge of the
National Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the DOJ Task Force on Corruption and Internal Security, and the DOJ Task Force on Financial Fraud and Money Laundering. In 2004, he assumed the leadership of the Dangerous Drugs Board as the agency's executive director.
Calida returned to private law and business after leaving government service in October 2004. He was president and chair of Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency, which won a contract with the
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established in 1977 through the Presidential Decree No. 1869. PAGCOR is the Philippines' largest contributor of revenue to the government a ...
in 2010. He also served as senior vice president of the insurance company Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc. Calida was endorsed by then Davao City Vice Mayor
Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
as a candidate for the
Ombudsman
An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...
post in 2011. Prior to his return to government service, he was also one of the campaign managers of the
2016 Duterte-Marcos presidential-vice presidential campaign.
President Duterte has described Calida as "passionately... pro-Marcos."
Calida faces criminal and administrative charges at the
Office of the Ombudsman. According to one of the charges, Calida allegedly violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for failing to divest his interest in his family-owned security agency, which received worth of contracts from the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
and other government agencies.
Calida has denied any conflict of interest and said he is not liable under the Code of Conduct for Public Officials nor the anti-graft law.
Calida was reported to be the second highest-paid government official in 2019, earning according to a report from
Commission on Audit (COA).
Calida was appointed by President-elect
Bongbong Marcos
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...
as the Chairman of Commission on Audit (COA) on June 29, 2022; he assumed the post on July 4. However, his appointment was bypassed by the
Commission on Appointments (CA) on September 28 and he was not reappointed by Marcos. Calida resigned from the post on October 4 due to undisclosed reasons; he was replaced by
Gamaliel Cordoba.
Wikipedia biography incident
During his time as a Solicitor General under President
Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
, Jose Calida successfully ordered the
National Telecommunications Commission
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; ) is the telecommunications regulator of the Philippines.
It is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication ...
(NTC) a
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...
order against the Philippines' largest television network,
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...
. After the network ceased its broadcasting operations on May 5, 2020, an IP user added a nickname "Demonyo" () to his Wikipedia biography. As of May 8, Calida's Wikipedia article has no nicknames at all.
See also
*
Shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting
The shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting arose from the lack of renewal of Philippine media network ABS-CBN's congressional broadcast franchise. The disputes between the administrations of Presidents Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte and th ...
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calida, Jose
1950 births
20th-century Filipino lawyers
21st-century Filipino lawyers
Arroyo administration personnel
Ateneo de Davao University alumni
Ateneo de Manila University alumni
Chairpersons of the Commission on Audit (Philippines)
Duterte administration personnel
Filipino business executives
Filipino Christians
Heads of government agencies of the Philippines
Living people
People from Davao de Oro
People from Davao del Sur
Solicitors general of the Philippines