New DND chief Gilbert Teodoro: Walking in Uncle Danding's shadow

The new defense secretary, Gilbert Teodoro, assumes the post in August with two advantages: his deep interest in security issues and his youth. But he also comes with a baggage. Teodoro, 43, is closely identified with his uncle, former Marcos crony and business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., such that his political choices are not seen as independent. As congressman, he made two high-profile decisions that left a sour taste: he supported then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.’s impeachment in 2003 on charges of corruption for misusing the multi-million peso Judicial Development Fund and the last-ditch efforts of Speaker Jose de Venecia and his allies at the House to amend the 1987 Constitution a few months into the 2007 mid-term elections. In between these two major and public decisions, he was a relatively quiet congressman, not actively participating in House deliberations. During his three terms spanning nine years at the House, Teodoro was rarely seen standing in plenary to debate, deliver a speech or question proceedings. He rather enjoyed cajoling his partymates in the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) during heated floor debates. Filadelfo Diaz III, Teodoro’s chief of staff in Congress, explained that his boss, exemplifying good leadership, had to co-sponsor the Davide impeachment complaint in support of the young and first-term legislator Felix William “Wimpy" Fuentebella of Camarines Sur, who was an NPC partymate. The complaint was trashed after the Supreme Court ruled it was filed within the one-year bar rule, which prohibits the filing of a complaint within a year after another complaint against the same impeachable official. On his position on the controversial Charter change move, Diaz said Teodoro came in only when de Venecia opened the possibility of amending the Constitution by calling a referendum to get the people’s pulse, or through the election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention simultaneous with the May 14 elections. “He has been in favor of amending the Constitution from Day One of his first term as congressman," Diaz said. And, he added, this has been clearly included in the legislative agenda of NPC. We sent questions to Teodoro, who is in the US, by e-mail but he did not respond. No committee chair While practically all congressmen had a long list of committee memberships, and were jockeying for committee chairmanship, Teodoro was listed in only one, the committee on dangerous drugs. And this was because the committee chair, Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan, insisted that he included in his committee. Instead of getting committee positions, Diaz said Teodoro gave way to his partymates in the NPC. As NPC secretary general Michael John “Jack" Duavit said, Teodoro “never needed a position or title." “As long as it’s Gibo (how Teodoro is referred to), he’s the boss. When he speaks, that’s it. He doesn’t need any formal position, he just shows himself, that’s okay," Duavit said of Teodoro’s position in the NPC, a party his uncle, Danding Cojuangco formed when he ran for president in 1992. Cojuangco has left the NPC under his favorite nephew’s care, although his two sons, Mark and Charlie, are also congressmen representing Pangasinan and Negros Occidental, respectively, under the same party. Teodoro has often been referred to as Danding’s fair haired boy, his “political son." Where he stands Still, Teodoro is expected to play a critical role in implementing the anti-terrorism law which he voted against in the 13th Congress. He believes it carries provisions which are prone to abuse. During his three terms in Congress, Teodoro sponsored legislation that span the gamut of civil rights protection, governance and economic development. His pet bills include a measure prohibiting the public display of persons arrested, accused, detained or under custodial investigation before formal charges are filed in court against them. It also defines the duties of arresting and investigating officers. Teodoro also wanted the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) detached from the Department of Justice (DoJ) owing to the conflict in the dispensation of their duties, with the DoJ tasked with prosecution and PAO on the defense side. Unfortunately, both bills did not prosper at the House. The farthest the bills reached was the floor, but were never put to plenary voting. Teodoro was also open to the concept of having a national identification card, provided adequate safeguards are in place to prevent abuse by implementing agencies. A licensed pilot, Teodoro took up a Command and Staff Course class at the Philippine Air Force (under the Air Education and Training Command of the Air Command and Staff College) while he was serving his term in Congress. Diaz said Teodoro was already flying even before he passed the bar in 1989. He kept a wide-screen desk top computer at his office where he could practice simulated flying. He was a lecturer at the National Defense College and a regular assistant professor at the General Command and Staff Course of the AFP. Teodoro holds the rank of full colonel in the Reserve Force of the PAF. He chairs the board of trustees of the Philippine National Police Foundation (PNPF) since the presidency of Joseph Estrada. He was an adopted son of the Philippine Military Academy’s “Magilas" Class of 1976 and an honorary member of the Philippine Air Force Class 1980, and the Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc. Exposed to politics Teodoro, the only child of former Social Security System administrator Gilberto C. Teodoro and former interim and regular Batasang Pambansa member Mercedes Cojuangco, was exposed to politics at an early age. He served as president of Kabataang Barangay of Tarlac from 1980 to 1985, and KB Federation- Central Luzon, and concurrently became a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that gave him initial lessons in legislation. Teodoro holds a bachelor’s degree in management of financial institutions from De La Salle University, a law degree from the University of the Philippines, and a master’s degree from the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He topped the bar exams in 1989, one of the youngest bar topnotchers in the country. He also passed the New York State Bar exams in 1997. He is married to Monica Louise Prieto who was recently elected to Congress. Civilian is welcome Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez, who was Mrs Arroyo’s national security adviser before the 2004 elections, said Teodoro is a good choice for the position. For one, he said it is in accordance with the Feliciano Commission’s recommendation that a civilian, not a career military man, be appointed to head the defense department. “This will prevent inbreeding within the DND-AFP establishment by injecting fresh ideas and is in consonance with constitutional principle of civilian supremacy over the military. This will also prevent unwanted meddling of the SND in AFP operations, like what happened in the past when the AFP chief of staff became SND," said Golez, a graduate of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. He advised Teodoro to “limit himself to policy matters and institute AFP reform as an outsider looking in and not protective of old AFP ways." A fact-finding government commission that investigated failed coup attempts in the 1980s recommended that a civilian, instead of retired generals, should head the DND to head off unrest in the ranks. - Tita Valderama, Newsbreak/GMAnews.TV