Gilberto Teodoro, Jr.

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**Gilberto Teodoro, Jr.**

Philippine Secretary of National Defense August 3, 2007–November 15, 2009
Representative, 1st District of Province of Tarlac June 30, 1998–June 30, 2007
Political Party:	Lakas-Kampi-CMD (2009 to date)
Born:	June 14, 1964
Website:	http://gibo.ph/
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Gilberto "Gilbert" Teodoro, Jr. (born June 14, 1964) was the Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) from 2007 to 2009. The youngest secretary to hold the national defense position, Teodoro has been chosen as the standard bearer of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD for the 2010 presidential election.

Early life

Teodoro is the only child of Gilberto C. Teodoro Sr., the former Social Security System administrator and Mercedes Cojuangco, former Batasang Pambansa member. Teodoro is closely identified with his uncle, San Miguel Corp. boss Eduardo Cojuangco Jr..

Teodoro got exposed to politics at an early age, serving as president of the Kabataang Barangay in Tarlac from 1980 to 1985 and the KB Federation of Central Luzon. He also became a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Interests

Teodoro has been reading “The Miracle of Asia”, a book which cites the story of the development of China and Indonesia and a book about the insurgenicies of fourth generation warfare entitled “The Slingshot and the Stone”. He listens to 70s and 80s music and bands like the Beach House, Itchyworms, Rivermaya, and Parokya ni Edgar.

Education

Teodoro graduated from De La Salle University with a degree in Management of Financial Institutions. He also holds a law degree from the University of the Philippines, and a master’s degree from the Harvard Law School in the US.

Teodoro topped the bar exams in 1989, becoming one of the youngest bar topnotchers in the country. He also took and passed the New York State Bar exams in 1997.

Teodoro is married to Monica Louise Prieto, a Representative of Tarlac. He is also the father of Jaime Gilberto Teodoro.

Career

Teodoro is the youngest secretary to hold the Defense portfolio at the age of 43, when he assumed the post in August 2007. As head of the Department of National Defense, Teodoro is keen on ably pursuing Philippine defense reforms and is determined to make the defense and military establishment truly responsive to the needs and aspirations of the Filipino people.

Before he became the Secretary of National Defense, he was Congressman of the First District of Tarlac for three (3) consecutive terms starting 1998. At the House, he assumed the position of Assistant Majority Leader (11th Congress) and Head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition House members. He was also a member of the House contingent to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

His passion for public service and aptitude for leadership is evident even at a very young age. Shortly after he completed his secondary education at the Xavier School, he was elected President of the Kabataang Barangay for Tarlac in 1980 and concurrently assumed Presidency of the Kabataang Barangay for Central Luzon until 1985. He also became a member of the Sanguniang Panlalawigan of Tarlac from 1980 to 1986.

Even with his hands full, Teodoro completed his Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Major in Financial Institutions at the De La Salle University in 1984. Since then, he focused his sights on acquiring for himself further education and knowledge to aid him in his desire to pursue public service. In 1989, he completed his Law studies at the University of the Philippines where he was awarded the Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence. In the same year, he topped the Philippine Bar exams.

Lawyer and a Pilot

For seven years, he honed his skills as a lawyer in the famed EP Mendoza Law firm. Armed with years of experience, he went to the Harvard Law School in Cambridge for his Master of Laws and completed it in 1997. He was also admitted to the State Bar of New York during the same year.

Teodoro, who holds distinct memberships in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, UP Alumni Association, UP Law Alumni Association, Harvard Alumni Association and the Harvard Law Alumni Association, is also a licensed commercial pilot and a Colonel in the Philippine Air Force Reserve.

Presidential bid

Months prior announcing his intention to run for presidency, Teodoro quit the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) to join the merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD and cast his name in the party's May 2010 presidential aspirants. On 16 September 2009, Teodoro was chosen over former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando as the standard bearer. On December, Teodoro filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) along with his vice presidential bet Edu Manzano and his senatorial bets broadcaster Rey Langit and Binalonan mayor Ramon Guico.

On November, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stepped down as the party's chairperson and handed over the position to Teodoro.

In the recent Pulse Asia survey conducted from 22 to 26 January 2010, the administration bet retained his five-percent rating, placing fourth behind Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Manny Villar, and former president Joseph Estrada.

Teodoro conceded from the presidential race. He called for the new administration to help the poor and reform the charter.

Campaign jingle controversy

The controversy started when Rico Blanco, former frontman and composer of Rivermaya, claimed that Teodoro violated intellectual property rights (IPR) over Blanco's song "Posible" which Teodoro used on his television commercial that was aired even before the elections officially started. Blanco also claimed that his voice was “copied” by the jingle's vocalist.

Teodoro's camp claimed that they paid the producer of the song, Viva Records, since they released it for the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games. In an interview with Blogwatch, Teodoro said that he will pull out the song only if Dennis Garcia, the jingle's composer, and Blanco's camp cannot come to an agreement.

Arroyo's ousting

In a presidential forum held at the De La Salle University, Teodoro did not clearly give an answer on whether or not Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should face charges after her term. “If I say ‘yes,’ I might be accused of riding on the popular sentiment against a party mate and former boss in the Cabinet,” He said. “If I say ‘no,’ I would be depriving myself of the objectivity I need as President.” However, he added that the judicial process should be observed.

Teodoro also said that if a citizen's movement against Gloria Arroyo was founded, he wouldn't have the capability to stop it. He said he cannot stop a determined person.

Teodoro's SALN

Teodoro's statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) ranks second biggest among those of the presidential candidates, with a reported P232.4 million in 2008. In 1998, he declared only three personal properties in his SALN: a residential lot in Makati, a condominium unit in Makati, and a real estate "interest" in Sampaloc, Manila. He also reported P19.55 million worth of vehicles, P11.9 million worth of jewelry and P23.95 million worth of stocks.

Campaign manifesto

Teodoro on the corporate world

Teodoro said in his interview with Blogwatch that to set the stage for developing the corporate world, there is a need to develop physical, technological, and managerial infrastructure and to focus on the public sector to create an inviting environment for investment. However, he does convey that he is open to provide some corporate tax relief, provided that it will not widen our deficit gap appreciably.

Teodoro mentions foreign direct investments as well as domestic investments as a means for growth. In terms of physical infrastructure, he points out the goal of ease of transportation like the NLEX and SLEX, C5 AND C6.

Teodoro believes that the crucial job of the president is to sell the country to an international audience.

On disaster risk management

Following up on the damage done by past typhoons, Ondoy and Pepeng, Teodoro said that the country is short on resources. According to him, we need to get the resources to finance the needed improvements in climate change adaptation because of limited government revenue. The solution for this is to get more investments to receive more public revenue.

Teodoro pointed out that the Philippines produces less than 1% of the world's greenhouses therefore making us “victims” of climate change and not climate makers. Hence, we should focus on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Teodoro pointed out other structural measures that need to be done:

Forming of Philippine disaster risk management agency
Change the paradigm - Under the National Disaster Coordinating Council law, the local government units (LGU) are the first responders to any natural calamity, however, we realize the limit to the capacity of this model, because of a) the differing capacity of individual LGU units and b) the fact that when a disaster strikes a local area, the reality is that the LGU can become incapacitated too. This calls for a national backbone.

Teodoro said that the Philippines should lead in the effort to make the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases own up to their responsibilities to those who are the most affected by their emissions.

Teodoro said that there are leakages and corruption of resources but in order to identify them, we have to have an estimation of how much corruption costs, adding that the leakage is not as big as we think. In his department, the leakage is estimated at P5 billion a year. The biggest leakage is the lack of budgetary support. Teodoro said, “You can have the best laid plans, but the devil is in the implementation.”

On the Reproductive Health Bill

Teodoro and his wife, Monica Prieto-Teodoro were once supporters of the RH Bill, but had changed their stand. He explains that population management is the problem because of limited viable land. Though the government is not the right moral guardian, the debate should not stop there, he said. He proposes that the moral guardians themselves should be accountable, but if at some point, it is shown that the "experiment" is not succeeding, then the government should step in. Teodoro said that the government must not influence a choice, but must support a choice. ^[1]

Howard Pacific contract controversy

Teodoro's response to the awarding of the contract regarding repairs to the presidential staff's helicopters to Hawker Pacific is that the issue at hand is not under the Philippine Air Force or the Department of National Defense and is therefore best addressed to the Office of the President.

On budget deficit

If elected, Teodoro aims to balance the budget by 2014 due to a need to fund programs and services because of the still weak global economy.

On Overseas Filipino Workers

Teodoro said that to encourage Filipinos to come back here, the government should be able to build acceptable alternatives for the Filipinos.

On proper budget allocation and wasteful spending with local government

According to Teodoro, he will not impound any funding from the budget that is legally allotted to the local government units, but he says we should give incentives for good management of the funds. He said that he may support increasing the LGUs share from 40% as long as they can prove their capacity for less reliance on the national government for basic services, so that national government can concentrate on national infrastructure and national issues. ^[2]

On the agricultural sector

Teodoro said that the Philippines is the largest rice importing country and the biggest consumer of rice. He believes that there is a big prospect for food security, if conflict areas in Mindanao are freed and converted them for farming purposes and provided adequate infrastructures.

Although Teodoro favors the Agrarian Reform, once it is implemented, there would be no more room for reforms because it becomes a sort of government funded peasantry program. He conveyed that we should support those who have already been beneficiaries of land, and provide avenues for them to be more productive. The goal, according to Teodoro is financial freedom. Teodoro said that we must also be versatile in terms of being able to shift the positions of farmers, not only in terms of relocation when it is needed, but also in terms of options of livelihood.^[3]

On livestock industry

Teodoro claimed that he thinks that there has been no successful livestock industry in the country. He proposed a concentration on hogs and chickens because he believes that there is demand for both.

On affordable housing and non-govermental organizations

He welcomes the support of non-governmental organizations like Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity on government programs such as housing developments. However, he emphasized that affordable housing must be provided in concurrence with job opportunities, so that people can avail of government supported housing.

Teodoro also called for vigilance in the local government units to supervise and monitor the flow of informal settlers. The informal settlers should also be relocated physically and provided opportunities.

On peace and order

Teodoro firmly believes two conditions are necessary to peace and order. First is that the primacy of the Philippine constitution and the Philippine government must be upheld at all times. Second, there must always be government presence in conflict areas not only to protect but as a deterrent. He contends that lack of soldiers and policemen is the reason we cannot follow up in these conflict areas.

With regards to the situation in Mindanao, Teodoro said that only the Mindanaoans can determine the solution of Mindanao. However, he was also quoted on “Nobody can say that he has the solution to Mindanao.”

On environmental protection

Teodoro made environment protection high on his priority list as part of the country's economic development. Environment protection is also important in terms of protecting the places where people live, and should be ingrained into our public infrastructure program. Environmental protection is also essential to tourism. He also sees mining as the biggest potential of the Philippines.

Affiliations

Integrated Bar of the Philippines - Member
University of the Philippines Alumni Association - Member
University of the Philippines Law Alumni Association - Member
Harvard Alumni Association - Member
Harvard Law Alumni Association - Member
Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association - Honorary member
Philippine Air Force AC AA - Honorary member
Philippine National Police Foundation Inc. - Chairman
Philippine Air Force Reserve - Colonel
National Defense College - Lecturer
Armed Forces of the Philippines, General Command and Staff Course - regular assistant professor
Department of National Defense - Secretary
Lakas-Kampi-CMD - Member and Standard Bearer for the 2010 Presidential Elections

Gallery

Teodoro as chairman of the NDCC	One of Teodoro's speech	Teodoro as Defense secretary	Gibo Teodoro, filing his COC
Gibo with running mate, Edu Manzano	An interview with Gibo Teodoro	Teodoro,speaking before a crowd of supporters	Teodoro - Galing at Talino TV ad