
The Commission on Appointments (CA) unanimously confirmed the ad interim appointment of lawyer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. as the Secretary of National Defense (SND) on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
Teodoro’s appointment was approved during the deliberation of the Committee on National Defense of the powerful CA at the House of Representatives and plenary session at the Senate.
In confirming Teodoro’s appointment, members of the CA recognized his “experience, leadership, expertise, and dedication” to steer the Department of National Defense (DND) and “achieve a balance between maintaining internal security and strengthening the external defense of the country.”
Teodoro, during the deliberation, highlighted his mandate as the defense chief in further modernizing the DND and leveraging the security’s partnerships in promoting the country’s national interests amid evolving security challenges particularly in the West Philippine Sea.
“The intensity of the need to focus on protecting our sovereignty and sovereign rights is paramount in the global race for resources and influence,” he said.
“There is a need for cognizance of sovereignty and sovereign rights. We need to principally use politics and diplomacy, backed up by a strong backbone of a strategic defense posture,” he added.
The defense chief stressed that under his leadership, he intends to prioritize the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well as the DND proper and its civilian bureaus to elevate the capabilities of its personnel.
He also underscored the need to set up a trust fund for the reformation of the pension system of military and uniformed personnel.
Teodoro was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as his defense chief on June 5, 2023. He is the third defense chief under the present administration although he is the first to hold the title as a Secretary.
He took over from Carlito Galvez Jr., who served as the DND officer in charge (OIC) from Jan. 9 to June 4. Retired AFP chief Jose Faustino Jr. also served as DND OIC from June 2022 to January 2023.
It was Teodoro’s second time to hold the top DND post, having been the SND in 2007 under the Arroyo administration.