Persida V. Rueda-Acosta (born 1961) is a Filipino lawyer who currently serves as the chief of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO),Department of Justice since 2001.
Chief Acosta is a native of Cabcaben,Mariveles,Bataan born in 1961 to Florencio and Herminia Rueda.[1] She was fourth among nine sibling with her father Florencio working as a mini-bus driver in Bataan and her mother Herminia was a dressmaker. She was a valedictorian both in elementary and high school. In college,she was a consistent dean’s lister at the University of the East (UE),where she graduated with a BS General course,cum laude. She attended the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law under a scholarship but was forced to leave on her third year due to her parents unable to afford school fees but later on graduated at the University of the East College of Law in 1987. She was a Dr. Antonio del Castillo Memorial Scholar and President Dalupan Scholar,respectively. Acosta holds a Doctorate degree in Social Development from the University of the Philippines Diliman honored with the Gawad Chanselor Award.
She completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program,as well as the Senior Executive Program on National and International Security and Certificate in Public Financial Management at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS),Massachusetts,U.S.A. and a Professional Certificate in International Management and Leadership from the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies in London. Chief Acosta attended the Salzburg Global Seminar,as Fellow,in 2009 and 2023. [2]
Career
2001-Present:Chief Public Attorney,Public Attorney’s Office;1993-2001:Partner,Acosta Rueda-Acosta and Associates Law Office;1990-1993:Public Attorney,Public Attorney’s Office;1990:Clerk of Court,Regional Trial Court,Branch 96,Quezon City
President Rodrigo Duterte awards to PAO Chief Acosta the Outstanding Individual for Government Service during the 18th anniversary celebration of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on August 29,2016.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2024)
Under Duterte, Acosta was awarded the Outstanding Individual for Government Service on August 29, 2016. In July 2016, she defended the police over deaths in the beginning of the Philippine drug war saying they were "almost negligible". Despite this, Acosta became the legal counsel for Kian Delos Santos, a high-profile case of a teenage boy who was killed in an anti-drug police operation.[4]
Remark on the CPRA
In 2023, the Supreme Court issued a show cause order against Acosta after she criticized[how?] the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA).[5] After Acosta apologized, she issued an order for public attorney lawyers to follow the Supreme Court's new code of conduct.[6] The Supreme Court in an En banc judgment promulgated on February 28, 2024 fined Rueda-Acosta PHP 30,000 for indirect contempt of court and PHP 150,000 for grossly undignified conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. PAO forensics expert Erwin Erfe was also fined PHP 10,000 for similar statements.[7]
Personal life
Persida is married to a fellow lawyer, Benedicto M. Acosta, with whom she has two children.[1][8]
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