Sunday, September 20, 2009

Profile: Gilberto Teodoro, Jr.




The 2010 national elections may be fast approaching, but the whole game  is still at a jump start to thrill. Many aspirants went on early, some had early retreats , and new stories unfold from tandem revamps to resurrection of issues about murder , corruption, and all; to disunity of members within a party or sector; to unique mudslinging( as usual); to a comparatively  unheard-of candidate like Teodoro. I thought, it would make the race better to help this man a little for his delay at such a critical point. Hence, I did a little research for all to know:


Gilberto Cojuangco "Gibo" Teodoro who made his presidential bid for the upcoming elections public in March 2009, is the current Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines proceeding Norberto Gonzalez, and at 45, the youngest among the 34 ever appointed to the post. Contemporaneously, he is also the Chairman of National Disaster Coordinating Council and is married to present Tarlac First district Representative Monica “Nikki” Prieto-Teodoro. They have a son named Jaime Gilberto.

Gibo as he wants to be called, was born to the prominent Cojuangco clan on June 14, 1964. He is the only child of former Social Security System (SSS) administrator Gilberto Teodoro, Sr. and former Batasang Pambansa member Mercedes Cojuangco-Teodoro. He is the nephew of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., chairman of San Miguel Corporation, while the late president and democracy icon Corazon Cojuangco "Cory" Aquino is a cousin of his mother, making fellow presidential aspirant Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III his second cousin. However, the entire clan was long split by political and business ideologies.



Education and Early Political Career
After spending elementary and high school years at Xavier University, Teodoro got his first grasp of what actual politics was when in 1980 he was elected President of the Kabataang Barangay for hometown Tarlac and concurrently rose to being president of the Kabataang Barangay for Central Luzon for five years. He also became a member of the Sanguniang Panlalawigan of Tarlac from 1980 to 1986. Teodoro then earned a degree in Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Financial Institutions in 1984 at the De La Salle University Manila.


After that, he decided to pursue law studies at the University of the Philippines where he was awarded the Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence and later on ranked first in the Philippine Bar Exams both in same year (1989). Gibo practiced his profession at the Estelito Mendoza Law Firm for seven years. Subsequently, he went to Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he completed his masters degree and passed the New York State Bar examinations both in the same year as well (1997). The secretary 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. Also early this year, he was given the first honorary Doctor of Laws degree by West Negros University of Bacolod.


Political Career
In 1998, Tarlac’s First District granted him three terms (nine years) as representative succeeded by his wife. 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. Apart from these, Gilberto Teodoro is a licensed commercial pilot and a Colonel in the Philippine Air Force Reserve. His tenure as Defense Secretary started in August 2007 (he was 43 then).


2010 Elections
A year prior to his announcement of 2010 plans, he left his party Nationalist People's Coalition to barge in the short list of candidates of the administration party, the merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD---which comprises more or less 80% of the local government officials in the country. Halfway through this year, he was endorsed by 50 or so governors which may probably be the reason why an executive committee of the party officially selected him as the presidential candidate with ostensible ease on September 16, 2009, overcoming the other nominee, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando.


Administration members and cronies sell Teodoro to the public as the candidate with perfect  résumé. Well, his track record has notable likeness to those of most former presidents of the country. ( A table is shown below.) 

With much said, the clock goes "tick tack" to the first poll automation on record whose multifarious contenders will surely create fervor in the millions of Filipino hopefuls. While many forget that sensationalism doesn't need to  be the deciding factor, our part certainly is to scrutinize platforms, capacity and integrity so we can choose that with which our visions really coincide. . .there's Gibo Teodoro the topnotcher, Noynoy Aquino the son of Cory, Manny Villar the corporate billionaire, Chiz Escudero the 39-year-old representative of the youth, Eddie Villanueva the evangelist, and Erap Estrada the actor.

(Hint: get to know the presidentiables from a third-party source like Wikipedia or the like to know not only their positive attributes but as well the negative issues that hound them.)

6 comments:

  1. Gibo could be a good president, but he is just unfortunately in the wrong party.

    Government employees are craving for a change in GSIS management but if he wins, there will surely be no change to expect in GSIS.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I met personally GIBO at Dos Mestizos in Boracay... And he's really a nice person... I heard his plans personally and felt his sincerity...
    And i told him the I and the rest of my family will vote him this 2010 Election...
    GO GIBO!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gibo is the man to beat. Praying that this
    man will change the outlook of the Philippines.
    Go Gibo, Go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is no such thing as unfortunate and in
    the wrong party. He's fortunate becuase he
    was chosen. Remember, Many were called but
    only few were chosen. Destinity speaks of
    itself. I'll go for you Gibo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. His party affiliation is of at no moment. What is paramount is his brilliant mine and keen analysis of the true situation of the country. The Filipino people is living in mesery despite abundance. While corruption is rampant almost in all sectors but corrupt Filipinos is not helpless. They only need a man like "GIBO" to redirect their thinking toward the welfare of the masses.
    GO AHEAD.. GIBO

    ReplyDelete
  6. gibo is the right choice i believe in his principles. i vote for gibo

    ReplyDelete

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