Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

Jose Calida

Jose Callangan Calida 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 under the Duterte administration, and as Chairman of Commission on Audit (COA) under the Marcos administration.

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Jul 18, 2026
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Jose Calida
2022, COA portrait
Chairman of the Commission on Audit
Ad interim
In office
July 4, 2022 – October 4, 2022
Appointed byBongbong Marcos
Preceded byRizalina P. Justol
Succeeded byGamaliel Cordoba
Solicitor General of the Philippines
In office
June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022
PresidentRodrigo Duterte
Preceded byFlorin Hilbay
Succeeded byMenardo Guevarra
Executive Director of the Dangerous Drugs Board
In office
January 21, 2004 – October 31, 2004
PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo
Preceded byEfren Q. Fernandez
Succeeded byEdgar C. Galvante
Justice Undersecretary
In office
March 12, 2001 – January 20, 2004
PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo
Personal details
BornJose Callangan Calida
(1950-07-07) July 7, 1950
Nuevo Iloco, Davao,
(now Mawab, Davao de Oro) Philippines
PartyCIBAC
SpouseMilagros Parantar Ordaneza
EducationAteneo de Davao University (BA, PhD)
Ateneo de Manila University (LLB)
OccupationBusiness executive
ProfessionLawyer

Jose Callangan Calida (born July 7, 1950)1 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 under the Duterte administration, and as Chairman of Commission on Audit (COA) under the Marcos administration.23

During his time as a Solicitor General, Calida is a controversial figure on the issues regarding the shutdown of television network ABS-CBN during the COVID-19 pandemic.4

Life and education

Calida was born in Nuevo Iloco, Davao (present-day Mawab, Davao de Oro).567 A born again Christian, he is married to Milagros Parantar Ordaneza who is also from Davao with whom he has three children.13

Calida holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in English from the Ateneo de Davao University 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.13

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 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.13 He also co-founded the party list 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, he was appointed by the newly installed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the Undersecretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Secretaries Hernando B. Perez in 2001, Merceditas Gutierrez 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.3

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 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 as a candidate for the Ombudsman 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.8312 President Duterte has described Calida as "passionately... pro-Marcos."9

Calida faces criminal and administrative charges at the Office of the Ombudsman.1011 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 ₱261.39 million worth of contracts from the Department of Justice and other government agencies.121314 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.12 In the Philippine House of Representatives, the Makabayan bloc said that Calida should be removed from office. Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate alleged that Calida used his position to get government contracts in what was a clear case of corruption in government.15

Amid the Philippine drug war, Calida blocked the release of documents on drug war killings. In 2017 and 2019, the Supreme Court ordered Calida to release documents on more than 3,000 killings during the drug war.1617

Calida was reported to be the second highest-paid government official in 2019, earning ₱16.95 million according to a report from Commission on Audit (COA).1819 He earned a cumulative ₱27.9 million in allowances and honoraria from 2017 to 2020. The COA flagged Calida and his office for excessive allowances.20

In March 2020, the House of Representatives summoned Calida to appear in an investigation on ₱95.42 billion in unpaid debts owed to the government by Meralco and First Gen Hydro Power Corporation.21

During the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on the Anti-Terror Law in April 2021, Calida red-tagged former Bayan Muna Congress Representative Neri Colmenares and progressive groups. Colmenares criticized Calida, saying that red-tagging is a deadly offense that threatens the life and security of its victims.22

Calida was appointed by President-elect Bongbong Marcos as the Chairman of Commission on Audit (COA) on June 29, 2022; he assumed the post on July 4.2324 However, his appointment was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) on September 28 and he was not reappointed by Marcos.25 Calida resigned from the post on October 4 due to undisclosed reasons;26 he was replaced by Gamaliel Cordoba.2728

Wikipedia biography incident

During his time as a Solicitor General under President Rodrigo Duterte, Jose Calida successfully ordered the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) a cease and desist order against the Philippines' largest television network, ABS-CBN.29 After the network ceased its broadcasting operations on May 5, 2020, an IP user added a nickname "Demonyo" (transl. demon) to his Wikipedia biography. As of May 8, Calida's Wikipedia article has no nicknames at all.30

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Lo, Ricky (20 July 2002). "Donna and Carlo: No plan to do Nida Blanca movie". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. Inquirer Research; Pacia, S.I. "The Duterte Administration". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. "The Duterte Cabinet". Interaksyon. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  4. Buan, Lian (July 11, 2020). "'End has come:' Calida warms towards House in hailing ABS-CBN franchise kill". Rappler. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  5. "Law List". Supreme Court of the Philippines. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  6. "Lawyers List". Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 26 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  7. Perez, A.S. (31 May 2016). "Duterte bares more cabinet members". Sun.Star Davao. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  8. Ranada, Pia (2017-03-27). "In charge of recovering ill-gotten wealth? But Calida is pro-Marcos". Martial Law Chronicles. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  9. "Duterte outs Calida as a rabid Marcos loyalist: He's related to them". Abogado. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  10. "SolGen faces criminal, administrative charges at the Ombudsman". CNN. May 10, 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  11. Ong, Czarina Nicole (May 10, 2018). "SolGen Calida faces multiple charges before Ombudsman". Manila Bulletin News. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  12. Buan, Lian (May 28, 2018). "Calida: No conflict of interest in gov't contracts even if I did not divest". Rappler. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  13. Cabato, Regine (June 21, 2018). "EXCLUSIVE: Justice Secretary: No anomalies in deals of SolGen's family firm with DOJ". CNN. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  14. Buan, Lian (May 29, 2018). "Gov't database shows additional P110M contracts for Calida firm". Rappler. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  15. Cruz, RG (May 30, 2018). "Makabayan bloc wants Calida out". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  16. Talabong, Rambo (2019-06-09). "Vicente Danao: When Davao's finest takes over Manila police". Rappler. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  17. Villegas, Vann Marlo (2019-04-02). "SC orders Calida to release records on drug war". Business World. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  18. "Calida now 2nd highest paid among Cabinet, GOCC officials". ABS-CBN News. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  19. O. Enano, Jhesset (30 July 2020). "Calida is 2nd highest-paid government official". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  20. Buan, Lian (2020-07-31). "Can Calida receive millions in allowances?". Rappler. Retrieved 2026-04-25.
  21. "House summons Calida to hearing on P95 billion power debt to PSALM". ABS-CBN News. March 7, 2020.
  22. "Rights lawyer slams Calida's red-tagging, calls it 'a deadly offense'". Bulatlat. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2026-04-25.
  23. "SolGen Calida is COA chair under Marcos admin; PNB exec appointed to GSIS". CNN Philippines. June 29, 2022. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  24. "New COA Chairperson Jose Calida assumes office". Commission on Audit. July 6, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  25. Gascon, Melvin (September 30, 2022). "14 Marcos picks bypassed". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  26. "Calida quits post as COA chairman". CNN Philippines. October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  27. Gregorio, Xave. "Gamaliel Cordoba, key figure in ABS-CBN shutdown, is new COA chairperson". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  28. "NTC chief Cordoba is Marcos' new COA chairperson". RAPPLER. 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  29. Navallo, Mike (May 6, 2020). "Calida pressed NTC to issue cease and desist order vs ABS-CBN, document shows". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  30. "Jose Calida given 'demonic' nickname on Wikipedia, but it doesn't stick". Rappler. Retrieved January 6, 2024.