by: Jade Veronique V. Yap

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcrs Jr. has appointed former National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba as the new chairman of the Commission on Audit (COA). 

On Friday afternoon, Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Hosaka said that Cordoba took his oath as COA chief before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

Cordoba will replace former Solicitor General Jose Calida, who resigned due to health reasons earlier this month. 

As the former NTC commissioner, Cordoba was a key figure in the ABS-CBN shutdown after its legislative franchise expired on May 5, 2020. 

The NTC, led by Cordoba, ordered the media giant to stop broadcasting on free TV when its franchise expired, despite previous assurances to lawmakers that the network would be allowed to continue operating under interim permission.

It also spearheaded the attack against more than 20 websites, including alternative news portal Bulatlat, for being "associated with and aiding terrorists," which resulted in blocking their websites. 

Bulatlat has since obtained a court order preventing the implementation of the NTC memo blocking its website.