MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Jose Calida is the second-highest-paid government official, earning P16.95 million in 2019, according to a report on salaries and allowances of the Commission on Audit (COA).
The top government lawyer rose four notches from 2018, when he was ranked as the sixth top earner.
According to the report, Calida received a salary of P2.91 million last year, and monetary benefits, including honorariums, reaching P11.91 million.He also received P288,500 in allowances, P550,618 in bonuses and P312,000 in discretionary funds last year.
With these earnings, Calida still stands as the highest paid solicitor general in the country’s history.
Alter ego
A year-on-year comparison shows that the biggest rise in his earnings was recorded in monetary benefits, of which he had received P8.07 million in 2018.
Calida has long enjoyed the trust of President Duterte and is widely regarded as his alter ego in the administration’s legal battles against its critics. He filed the quo warranto petition against Maria Lourdes Sereno that led to her ouster as chief justice. He has used the same legal tactic against embattled network ABS-CBN.
The solicitor general sticks out in the top 10 highest earners, with the rest being officials from the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Former UCPB President Higinio Macadaeg Jr. topped the list, earning P20.47 million.
Occupying the third spot is BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno, who received P15.45 million.
Other top earners included UCPB Executive Vice President Eulogio Catabran III (P15.09 million), BSP Deputy Governor Maria Almasara Tuaño-Amador (P14.60 million), BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier (P14.59 million), BSP Senior Assistant Governor Dahlia Luna (P12.24 million), BSP Assistant Governor Ma. Ramona Santiago (P12.17 million), UCPB Executive Vice President Edmond Bernardo (P11.58 million) and BSP Senior Assistant Governor Elmore Capule (P11.42 million).
Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta and Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe ranked as the 13th and 16th top earners, respectively.