Gilbert Teodoro

Under the law (PD 1566), the NDCC's role as a temporary or ad hoc committee is very limiting because it places the budget and primary responsibility during natural disasters on the hands of local government officials.

For this reason, Teodoro expressed the desire for bills that seek to replace PD 1566 with a permanent Disaster Risk Reduction Council (DRRC) that will be given the right powers and resources to correct the weaknesses of the current law.

On June 5, 2023, Teodoro was reappointed as Secretary of National Defense by President Bongbong Marcos.

As a Defense Secretary, Teodoro Jr. took a strong stance against Chinese incursions into Philippine waters.

He described China encroaching in Philippine waters as akin to acting like illegal occupants, or "squatters" in Philippine colloquial terms.

Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. (born June 14, 1964), nicknamed Gilbert or Gibo, is a Filipino lawyer, politician and business executive who is the incumbent Secretary of National Defense under the Marcos Jr. administration since 2023.

Teodoro finished elementary in 1977 and high school in 1981 at Xavier School, and obtained his undergraduate degree in commerce major in Financial Institutions from De La Salle University in 1984.

At the age of 16, in 1980, Teodoro was elected as the Kabataang Barangay (KB) President in Tarlac; he would serve the position until 1986.

He went on to lead Central Luzon and became a member of the Tarlac Provincial Board at the time that his mother was the Tarlac representative in the National Assembly.

He then studied law at the University of the Philippines College of Law from 1985 to 1989, and finished at the top of his class.

He was also awarded the Dean's Medal for Academic Excellence.

Teodoro studied commerce at De La Salle University, and law at the University of the Philippines, where he graduated top of his class and went on to top the 1989 Bar exams.

He then earned his Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School.

He topped the 1989 Philippine Bar Examinations with an 86.18% bar rating.

Teodoro had been a lawyer at the EP Mendoza Law firm, owned by Estelito Mendoza, from 1989 to 1996.

In 1997, he obtained his Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he passed the State Bar of New York.

He practiced law until he was elected as Representative of Tarlac's 1st district, serving from 1998 to 2007.

Teodoro has been described as a technocrat.

During his time as defense secretary, he was known for his efforts as the chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) when Mega Manila was hit by Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy).

From 1998 to 2007, he was a House Representative for the First District of Tarlac province.

He previously served in the same post from 2007 to 2009 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Teodoro was appointed Secretary of the Department of National Defense in August 2007 at the age of 43.

He was the second youngest person to ever hold the position after Ramon Magsaysay, who assumed the position a day after he turned 43.

While serving as the Secretary of National Defense, Teodoro concurrently headed the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), a temporary organization that supports the relief efforts being done by the local government in times of natural disasters.

When Typhoon Ketsana hit the country, Teodoro immediately issued an appeal for international aid through the United Nations and organized relief operations in the affected areas given the limitations in resources and the scale of the disaster.

He mitigated the devastation wrought by the typhoon and prioritized the areas at risk of being wiped out.

He also completed his Doctor of Laws at what was then West Negros University in 2009.

According to his classmates, Teodoro was "very intelligent", an unconventional nerd.

They have also added that he is "very unassuming" and a "very cool" person.

During his college days, he had not been involved in campus politics, and had been busy with his other commitments outside school, including being a member of the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) in Tarlac and learning how to fly planes.

In March 2009, Teodoro announced his intention to run for President of the Philippines in the May 2010 election.

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.

He was the nominee of Arroyo's Lakas–Kampi in the 2010 presidential election, which he lost to his second cousin, Noynoy Aquino.

Months earlier, he quit his old party Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) to join the merged administration party Lakas Kampi CMD and cast his name in the ruling party's contenders for the 2010 elections.

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.

Teodoro was a part of the "Bright Boys" clique.

He authored 106 bills during his stint.

Following his three terms in office—the maximum number allowed by the constitution — he was succeeded by his wife, Monica Prieto-Teodoro.