Oscar Calderon
Former chief of the Philippine National Police (1951–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oscar Castelo Calderon (October 1, 1951 – March 8, 2025) was a retired Filipino police officer who served as the chief of the Philippine National Police.[1][2]
Retired P/DIR-GEN Oscar Calderon | |
|---|---|
| Director-General of the Bureau of Corrections | |
| In office December 27, 2007 – October 2010 | |
| President | Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
| Preceded by | Ricardo Dapat |
| Succeeded by | Ernesto Diokno |
| Chief of the Philippine National Police | |
| In office July 5, 2006 – October 1, 2007 | |
| President | Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
| Preceded by | P/Dir. Gen. Arturo Lomibao |
| Succeeded by | P/Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Oscar Castelo Calderon October 1, 1951 Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, Philippines |
| Died | March 8, 2025 (aged 73) |
| Alma mater | Philippine Military Academy |
| Police career | |
| Service | Philippine National Police |
| Allegiance | Philippines |
| Divisions |
|
| Service years | 1973–2007 |
| Rank | Police Director General |
Personal life and education
Oscar, the eldest of eight Calderon siblings, was born in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, on October 1, 1951.[2] At the time of his appointment by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Calderon admitted in a radio interview that he was a "distant relative" of the latter.[3] Shortly before his appointment, his younger brother, Comm. Leonard Calderon, became deputy chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.[2][3]
Calderon was a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1973.[1][2][3]
While in duty in Mindanao, he later married Ma. Theresa Larrabaster, a local beauty pageant titlist from General Santos. They had at least three children.[2]
Calderon died on March 8, 2025, at the age of 73. He was later interred at the Heritage Park in Taguig.[4]
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Early years
After graduation from the PMA, he became a junior officer of the then Philippine Constabulary–Integrated National Police (PC–INP).[2]
He spent most of his career in Visayas and Mindanao.[2] Within his first decade in service,[3] he even led campaigns against Moro secessionist rebels,[2] particularly in the provinces of South Cotabato and Maguindanao, and the cities of Zamboanga, General Santos, and Davao while serving as Metro District commander.[3]
He was later assigned at the then Criminal Investigation Service of the PC (which later became the PNP).[3] He headed the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response and the Senior Officers Promotion Board;[5] and served as well—as the police agency's deputy chief for administration.[3] Also, he was the director for Central Luzon,[6] Southern Tagalog, and Laguna; as well as head of the Directorate for Comptrollership, and deputy of the Directorate for Investigative and Detective Management.[3]
Prior to becoming the PNP chief, he received 41 recognitions from the military and the police,[3] including 18 awards and nine Military Merit Medals.[2] Among them were a Bronze Cross for leading the 1985 rescue operation against a kidnap group in Cebu City;[2][3] and the PNP Senior Officer of the Year Award (1992).[3] Meanwhile, he was also involved in the arrest of former legislator Dennis Roldan, who had been accused of kidnapping.[3]
As PNP Chief
In July 2006, Calderon, then police Deputy Director General, became the PNP chief, replacing Director General Arturo Lomibao.[3] He was appointed over contenders such as: Deputy Director Generals, Servando Hizon, PNP comptroller; and Avelino Razon, PNP deputy chief for operations (his future successor).[1][7]
In his first month in office, on August 1, President Arroyo imposed a ten-week deadline for the solution of high-profile killings of political activists and journalists during her term, particularly at least ten of them; as well as the arrest of suspects.[8] The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the PNP were instructed for the special investigation, which was headed by Task Force Usig and whose deadline was on October 7 but only produced little progress as only few cases were filed.[9] By the second week, Calderon claimed solving two of them.[2]
As BuCor chief
Almost three months after his retirement from police service, on December 27, 2007, Calderon formally assumed the directorship of the Bureau of Corrections,[10] a day after being appointed by the President to replace Ricardo Dapat following the reported unauthorized trip of another former legislator and rape convict Romeo Jalosjos.[11] It was during his term that Jalosjos was only freed from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa in 2009.[12]
Calderon was replaced by newly-installed President Benigno Aquino III (Arroyo's successor) in October 2010.[13] In 2011, following the reported unauthorized trip of another former politician and homicide convict Antonio Leviste, DOJ investigators implicated Calderon for alleged special treatment to Leviste, during his term.[14] He was also implicated by a newspaper source in the same case of murder convict Rolito Go.[15]
References
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