Profile :: The
Honorable GILBERTO C. TEODORO, JR.
Website: http://www.dnd.gov.ph
Tel#: 911-0488 911-1746 912-9281
Early in life, Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gilbert” Cojuangco
Teodoro, Jr., already showed the makings of a leader and public
servant. In his youth, he was elected President
of the then Kabataang Barangay for Central Luzon and
later, member of the Sanguniang Panlalawigan of Tarlac
from 1980 to 1986.
After completing his primary
education at the Xavier School, he then pursued his secondary
studies at the same school as he also dabbled his involvement
in political offices and organizations.
Even with his hands full,
Secretary Teodoro successfully completed his Bachelor of Science
in Commerce, Major in Financial Institutions at the De La Salle
University in 1985.
Since then, he focused his
sights on acquiring for himself further education and knowledge
to aid him in his desire to pursue public service. 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 famed EP Mendoza Law firm. Armed
with years of experience, he went to the Harvard Law School
in Cambridge 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.
Secretary Teodoro holds
memberships in the following— Integrated Bar of the Philippines,
UP Alumni Association, UP Law Alumni Association, Harvard Alumni
Association and the Harvard Law Alumni Association.
In 1998, Secretary Teodoro
resumed his interrupted political pursuits when he ran and
successfully won a seat in Congress. He was Congressman
of the First District of Tarlac for three (3) consecutive terms. At
the House, he was an Assistant Majority Leader (11th Congress),
Head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition House members
and a member of the House contingent to the Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council.
It was during his three-year
terms that he forged friendships and memberships with individuals
and institutions, including military.
His desire to learn
the intricacies involved in the military prompted him to take
the Command and Staff Course Class at the Air Command and Staff
College of the Philippine Air Force in 2001, where he was the
Leadership and Seminar Academic Excellence Awardee. Two
years later, he also completed his Joint and Combined Staff
Officers Course at the Joint Command and Staff College where
he, too, was bestowed the Leadership Award.
Secretary
Teodoro, a licensed commercial pilot with a rating in Lear
Jet 31, is a reserve colonel in the Philippine Air Force. He
was also an assistant faculty member of the Command and General
Staff Course and a lecturer at the Air Command Staff College.
Secretary Teodoro has also
since been very supportive of various undertakings by the military
and the police. As such, he holds the chairmanship
of the Philippine National Police Foundation Inc. he
is also an Honorary member of the PMA Alumni
Association Sponsoring Class – ’76, Philippine
Air Force Aviation Cadet Alumni Association Sponsoring Class – ’80,
Association of Chiefs of Police of the Philippines, Inc., and
a lifetime member of the Armor-Cavalry Association of the Philippines
Secretary Teodoro
is also the recipient of numerous military awards, decorations
and commendations such as—the Basic RASS Aeronautical
Badge, Honorary Command Pilot, the Caliber .45 Pistol Expert
Marksmanship Badge, M-16 Rifle Marksmanship Badge, Military
Merit Medal, AFP General Staff Course Badge, Presidential Flight
Crew Badge, Military Civic Action Medal (Plain), Military Civic
Action Medal with Bronze Service Star, and the Military Civic
Action Medal with Second Service Star.
Secretary Teodoro, son of
the former SSS Administrator Gilberto, Sr., and Mercedes Cojuangco,
has a string of accomplishments and notable achievements to
his name. At 43, he serves as the youngest Secretary
to hold the Defense portfolio.
Secretary Teodoro is married to Representative Monica
Prieto-Teodoro; they have one son – Jaime Gilberto.
Source: http://www.dnd.gov.ph
