Philippine Defense Chief Teodoro Open to 2028 Presidential Bid
Key Takeaways
- •Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said he is open to a 2028 presidential run, when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be barred from the ballot by single-term limits.
- •Beijing sanctioned Teodoro earlier this year over his criticism of China's military buildup, barring him from entering the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau.
- •Under Teodoro's tenure, the Philippines has hosted American weaponry and expanded US access to military sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement near Taiwan and the South China Sea.
- •Teodoro cautioned against Chinese investment in critical infrastructure, saying the previous administration's accommodation of Beijing allowed illegal Chinese activities to enter the country under the guise of investments.
- •Vice President Sara Duterte, the election frontrunner, faces a Senate impeachment trial in which a two-thirds conviction could remove her from the ballot and bar her from politics for life.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said he is open to a presidential run in 2028, a move that could pit the China hawk against Vice President Sara Duterte.
"If I have a chance, maybe. If I don't, forget it," Mr. Teodoro said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is barred from seeking re-election that year under term limits that restrict Philippine presidents to a single six-year term.
Mr. Teodoro has been among the most vocal critics of China's military buildup in the South China Sea. Beijing imposed sanctions on him earlier this year, barring him from entering the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The defense chief has also spearheaded the Philippines' efforts to strengthen its defense alliance with the United States. Under his tenure, the Southeast Asian nation has hosted American weaponry and implemented the expansion of US forces' access to military sites under the two allies' Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, near two regional flashpoints: Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Mr. Teodoro said the country's next leadership should be cautious about Chinese money, recalling how the previous administration of Rodrigo Duterte built closer ties with Beijing.
"There was accommodation already, not merely cooperation," he said. "What happened? We were suddenly populated internally by illegal Chinese activities in the guise of investments."
He added that not all Chinese investments were bad, particularly "those that have undergone appropriate due diligence processes." Still, he cautioned against investments in critical infrastructure "because we have a national dispute with an aggressive neighbor."
Mr. Duterte's daughter, Sara, is the leading candidate for the next election. With the two prospective rivals representing sharply different postures toward Washington and Beijing, the race could help set the direction of Philippine foreign and defense policy. She is currently facing an impeachment trial in the Senate, which could bar her from politics for life if convicted — a verdict that requires the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate and would remove the leading candidate from the ballot.
Mr. Teodoro met with US counterpart Pete Hegseth this week in Cebu, where the two agreed to fast-track the Philippine military's modernization. The meeting took place on the sidelines of a summit among Southeast Asia's defense leaders, where the US pushed for a defense cooperation framework as it counters China's presence in the region.
Mr. Teodoro, 62, ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2010. — Bloomberg
Source: Bloomberg via BusinessWorld
