Gibo thanks PBBM for continued trust: 'Our mission continues'
Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. expressed his gratitude to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for keeping him in his position as the head of the Department of National Defense (DND).
Teodoro, in a statement, said that his mission at the DND “continues” after Marcos rejected the courtesy resignation he submitted in adherence to the Chief Executive’s order on Thursday, May 29.
“I thank the President for his continued trust and confidence as we pursue his vision of strengthening the nation's defense, protecting the patrimony of our archipelagic nation, and promoting regional peace and stability,” he said.
It was Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin who revealed that Teodoro would be retained as the country’s defense chief.
“Yeah, yeah, definitely that [courtesy resignation] was declined,” Bersamin said.
To recall, Marcos directed all his Cabinet secretaries to submit their courtesy resignations last week as part of a revamp aimed at giving the President the elbow room to evaluate the performance of each department and determine who will continue to serve in line with his administration’s recalibrated priorities.
“Our mission at the Department of National Defense continues,” Teodoro said after learning of his retention.
Teodoro has been serving as the DND chief since June 2023.
Among his accomplishments as the defense secretary include the adoption of a new defense strategy called the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC), which seeks to develop the country’s capability to protect and secure the entire Philippine territory and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and ensure that the Filipinos will freely reap all the bounties of the natural resources within them.
He has also expanded the country’s defense and military alliances with other “like-minded” nations while being a vocal critic of China’s continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Singapore defense summit
Meanwhile, the DND said that Teodoro will represent the Philippines in the 22nd International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue from May 30 to June 1 in Singapore.
Teodoro is scheduled to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with his counterparts from various countries, together with senior officials from the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“The engagements aim to discuss regional and global security issues and strengthen defense and security cooperation with allies,” the DND said.
Held annually in Singapore, the IISS dialogue is Asia’s premier defense summit featuring multiple plenary sessions, special addresses, and simultaneous working sessions covering defense innovation, regional crisis management, and maritime security cooperation.
It enables decision-makers from across the Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Middle East to gather together to discuss the most pressing regional security issues and to share policy responses. It features plenary debates led by government ministers, as well as important opportunities for bilateral discussions among delegations.
The defense summit is expected to be attended by representatives from 47 countries, including 40 minister-level delegates.
The summit concludes with discussions on enhancing security cooperation for a stable Asia-Pacific.