Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo “Gilbert”/”Gibo” Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. (born June 14, 1964) is the current Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines, having assumed the post in August 2007. From 1998 to 2007 he was a member of the House of Representatives, representing the First District of Tarlac province. In March 2009 he announced his intention to run for President of the Philippines in the May 2010 elections.
He is the only child of former Social Security System administrator Gilberto Teodoro, Sr. and former Batasang Pambansa member Mercedes Cojuangco-Teodoro. He the nephew of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr., chairman of San Miguel Corporation and also the founder of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party. The late former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino was also his aunt.
Secretary 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.
He also made a cameo appearance as himself in the primetime soap opera Tayong Dalawa.
Education
Teodoro spent his elementary and high school years at Xavier School. Shortly after completing high 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.
Teodoro attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from De La Salle University in 1984. 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.
For seven years, he honed his skills as a lawyer in the EP Mendoza Law firm. He went to the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts 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.
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Political career
Congressman
From 1998 to 2007 he was a congressman representing the First District of Tarlac province. He assumed the position of Assistant Majority Leader in the 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.
Following his three terms in office—the maximum number allowed by the constitution—he was succeeded by his wife, Monica Prieto-Teodoro.
Secretary of National Defense
Teodoro was appointed Secretary of the Department of National Defense in August 2007 at the age of 43, the youngest person to ever hold the position.
During his tenure as Defense Secretary, he appeared in a cameo role as himself in the soap opera Tayong Dalawa.
2010 presidential candidate
In March 2009 he announced his intention to run for President of the Philippines in the May 2010 election. A year earlier, he quit his old party Nationalist People’s Coalition to join the merged administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD and cast his name in the ruling party’s contenders for the 2010 elections.
On September 16, 2009, voting 42-5 through secret balloting, the executive committee of Lakas-Kampi officially selected Teodoro as their party’s presidential standard bearer for the May 2010 elections, edging out the other nominee, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. The announcement was made by Lakas-Kampi Secretary General Gabriel Claudio after a deliberation that lasted for approximately an hour.
And though he continues to perform dismally in presidential surveys, Teodoro enjoys the support of a number of administration members, including governors and party leaders. He is also undaunted by the possibility of facing his cousin, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, in next year’s elections.
With the administration machinery behind him, Teodoro is hoping to become the third national defense secretary to become president after Ramon Magsaysay in 1953 and Fidel V. Ramos in 1992. SOURCE:(http://www.eleksyon.co.cc/gilberto-gibo-cojuangco-teodoro-jr/)
GILBERT 'GIBO' TEODORO, JR.
ReplyDeleteVISION - My vision for a dynamic nation
The Philippines deserves a place among the most vibrant emerging economies of the world. The country does not want for talent and resources. What we lack is the institutional capital that will enable the country to seize historic opportunities before it; a legal and policy framework that will enable us to attract a larger share of investment flows; a bureaucracy that makes doing business easier; a security capability that will finally enable us to end the last yet most protracted armed insurgencies in the world; and an educational system that will produce the highly skilled workforce that will bring us to the cutting edge of the new economy.
Over the medium term, we need to radically alter our economic and investment policies to make them more receptive and responsive to the demands of the new global economy. Bureaucratic reform has been the toughest nut to crack for all previous administrations. It is something that must be urgently done over the next few years if we are to break out from the trap of low growth.
There is no further reason for significant swathes of the country to continue to suffer from marauding insurgencies. Armed conflict has cost many of our communities immensely, not only in terms of loss of life and destruction of property but more so in terms of missed opportunities. In the areas where armed conflict happens, infrastructure could not be built, farms and enterprises have been abandoned, and investments are absent. Already impoverished by the presence of insurgent groups, the communities in the affected areas live in fear of harassment and suffer the extortion of armed gangs. These basic communities must be immediately liberated from fear, violence and poverty so that their participation will be harnessed in the governance of public programs.
Government, in the near term, must make the required strategic investments in closing the infrastructure gap and in quickly raising the quality of our educational system. The first will enhance the domestic and international commerce. The second will multiply our human capital, the driving force of our economic growth.
We are now in the process of detailing a comprehensive plan for state strategic intervention through the first two years of my presidency. One of its critical and immediate elements is a massive low cost housing particularly a medium rise in-city program that will reduce disaster risks and spark urban redevelopment. It is a plan that will require a tremendous amount of political will and public support. It will set the stage for our economy to grow at a rate at par with the most dynamic economies of our region. If we are able to sustain economic growth at about 8%, we will finally be able to reverse the tide of poverty and begin creating a dynamic, resilient and modern economy for the next generation. We will not balk at doing the tough things that need to be done.
Gibo for President=)
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