ouch for pink panther



Lakas-Kampi picks Gibo

| 09/16/2009 2:10 PM

MANILA - The Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) national executive committee on Wednesday chose Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as its standard-bearer in next year's presidential elections.
Teodoro was overwhelmingly chosen over his rival, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, in the secret balloting conducted at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

The former lawyer and three-term congressman aims to duplicate the political careers of two former presidents -- Ramon Magsaysay and Fidel Ramos -- who rose to the top after successes in the defense department.
Magsaysay, the first defense chief to be elected Philippine president, succeeded in breaking the back of the agrarian-based Huk rebellion in the early 1950s.
Ramos, a bemedalled retired general, was hailed as a hero of a popular revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986. Six years later, he became the second defense chief to win the country's highest political post.
An air force colonel in the reserve force who flies light planes and keeps himself fit with daily shadow boxing, Teodoro is hoping his crackdown on Muslim and communist rebels will boost his image. He has been a vocal champion of more investment in defense.
Teodoro belongs to one of the country's most powerful political families, the Cojuangco clan in Tarlac.
For the election, he may get backing of his uncle Eduardo Cojuangco, who heads cash-rich San Miguel and is one of the wealthiest men in the country.
He used to be a member of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), but quit in July after he joined the ruling party.
His wife, Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, who used to be a commercial model, took over his Congress seat as representative of Tarlac when Arroyo appointed him as defense secretary in 2007.
Teodoro has shrugged off criticism about his low popularity, saying the party machinery will help him catch up with survey leaders who are mostly from the opposition.
as of 09/16/2009 2:11 PM