Arroyo appoints new DND chief

By Ronron
June 30, 2007

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday appointed a new Defense Secretary in the person of outgoing Tarlac Congressman Gilbert Teodoro, Jr., her spokesman said.

Sec. Ignacio Bunye said Teodoro, who represented for nine years the 1st District of Tarlac at the Lower House under the Nationalist People’s Coalition political party, will assume office on August 3.

“I am humbled and sincerely honored by Her Excellency’s announcement. I will not comment any further until I have received the President’s instructions and guidance,” Teodoro said in a text message yesterday to reporters.

Teodoro, 43, will replace Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., who is reappointed back to head the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Ebdane will reassume the DPWH portfolio being held in an officer-in-charge capacity by Secretary Manuel Bonoan.

In the meantime, the Defense department will have National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as officer-in-charge until Teodoro assumes the post on August 3, Bunye said.

Ebdane was assigned by Arroyo to the Defense department on February 1 of this year after the controversial resignation of Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr. in late November of last year.

Teodoro will be the 32nd Defense Secretary of the country. He holds a Masters in Law, which he obtained from Harvard University, and is a passer of the New York State Bar examinations. He was a member of the Dangerous Drugs Committee in the Lower House.

He is the nephew of pro-administration NPC Chairman Emeritus and business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.

In a phone interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. said the appointment of Teodoro in the Defense department is welcome to the entire military organization.

“Congressman Teodoro has been considered long before. So, indeed, he is qualified, being a civilian, a bar topnotcher, and a three-termer (at Congress). His experience in Congress will surely benefit the AFP because he have some legislative advocacy also. His contact with Congress is a plus factor for us,” Esperon said.

Esperon revealed that Teodoro is a reserve Air Force Colonel, so he is confident the solon knows the concerns of ordinary soldiers and military officers.

The military chief said he also saw how Teodoro responds to calamities and disasters, referring to the time when he was still a commander at the 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija, a neighboring province of Tarlac. As Defense Secretary, Teodoro will also become chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

As he admits to be happy also for the return of Ebdane to the DPWH, Esperon did not keep to himself his sadness over the development, saying it was a happy experience working for four months with his namesake.

“I am just sad a bit although it’s for personal reasons. We are both Hermogenes, he was my former team leader, our wives are friends, and we are also long-time friends,” Esperon said of Ebdane.

But he said he is aware the President wants Ebdane to accomplish a lot of work at the DPWH so he respects the prerogative of their boss.

Esperon said he already knew about the revamp even before yesterday’s announcement so it was no surprise to him. What he was not aware of was the temporary appointment of Gonzales.

But Esperon said he also sees no problem with Gonzales being the acting Defense Secretary for a month because “being the NSA, he is aware of our problems, he has been our partner and we have been working already with him.”

Esperon said he does not see any of the projects in the AFP and the Defense department disrupted with the change of leadership since the timeline for these are already laid out.

Former House Committee chair on National Defense Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez said Teodoro’s appointment is “welcome news.”

“A civilian, Teodoro’s appointment is in accordance with the Feliciano Commission’s recommendation that a civilian, not career military man, be appointed to head the DND,” Golez said.

It can be recalled that Ebdane’s appointment as Defense Secretary was met with criticisms because being a former member of the uniformed service, more so a former chief of the Philippine National Police, he does not fall under the recommendations of the Feliciano Commission.

The said commission investigated the military uprising in 2003, now dubbed as the Oakwood Mutiny, and came up with recommendations to avoid a repeat of military adventurism. Among the issues raised by the mutineers, headed by now Senator-elect Antonio Trillanes IV, are alleged corruption in government and ill-governance.

“This (Teodoro’s appointment) will prevent inbreeding within the DND-AFP establishment by injecting fresh ideas and is consonance with the Constitutional principle of civilian supremacy over the military,” Golez said./DMS