Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Generoso DG Calonge has been appointed Commodore of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Auxiliary.
A Commodore is the Coast Guard or Navy rank equivalent of a Brigadier General in the Army.
Assistant Secretary Calonge also served as an officer in the Philippine Army for six years before joining the Philippine Foreign Service.
Assistant Secretary Calonge took his oath before Admiral Joel Garcia, Commandant, PCG, at the PCG Headquarters in the agency’s Donning and Oath Taking Ceremonies on 29 May 2020.
Pursuant to HPCG Memorandum Circular 01-14 dated 06 June 2014, Assistant Secretary Calonge was appointed to the service of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Executive Squadron, with the honorary rank of Auxiliary Commodore effective 10 January 2020.
Assistant Secretary Calonge is a seasoned career diplomat whose service in the Department of Foreign Affairs spans more than 35 years. He has served in Philippine diplomatic missions, five of them as Head of Post, in the United States, Russia, and United Arab Emirates, as well as in several offices in Manila.
He was Ambassador to Israel for three years before his assignment to Chicago as Consul General in the summer of 2014, before assuming his current designation on 01 April 2018.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and his degree in Law from the University of the Philippines and his Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. Assistant Secretary Calonge also served as an officer in the Philippine Army for six years before joining the Philippine Foreign Service.
He graduated from the Australian Army’s Officer Cadet School at Portsea in 1979. He graduated number one in the Scout Ranger Course Class Number 33 and graduated from the Paratroop School under Basic Airborne Course Class 42, both in 1980.