DND: Teodoro gave up Malta passport in 2021
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. renounced and gave up his Maltese passport in 2021, before he filed his certificate of candidacy to run for senator.
The Department of National Defense (DND) made this clarification on Monday after a news report claimed that Teodoro is a dual citizen as he was issued a passport by Malta, a member state of the European Union, on Dec. 22, 2016.
“The alleged existing Maltese passport of Secretary Gilberto Teodoro was surrendered and renounced,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
Teodoro ran for senator in the 2022 national elections, although he lost his bid.
Andolong added that Teodoro had informed the Bureau of Immigration and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) about his renounced Maltese passport, as well as the Commission on Appointments, before his confirmation as defense chief.
Dual citizens can hold public office provided they renounce their foreign citizenship beforehand, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Motive behind rumor
According to Andolong, the “motive of this rumor is clear and known to Secretary Teodoro,” adding that “the timing of the article adds to this motive.”
For security expert Chester Cabalza, the expose was a “demolition job” against Teodoro.
Cabalza, president and founder of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, told the Inquirer on Monday that the move was done against Teodoro “to discredit his efforts in protecting the defense and security of the country’s sovereignty-centered policy.”
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia, meanwhile, said that the issue of citizenship regarding any elected or appointed official can be raised anytime, citing the case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
“I don’t have any idea about that topic (Teodoro’s Maltese passport) but again, when it comes to the issue of citizenship of a person, that can be raised anytime. As long as there is still no decision from the Supreme Court with the full participation of the Office of Solicitor General,” Garcia told reporters in an interview at the Comelec office.
He stressed that in the absence of a court ruling on the issue, Teodoro is presumed to be a Filipino citizen or a natural-born Filipino citizen.
“In the meantime, I just want to say to everyone, if there is an issue on that, we should all be thinking that he is presumed to be a Filipino citizen and or natural born Filipino citizen,” he said.
Legal remedy
According to Garcia, government officials who are appointed or elected may face a quo warranto case, which is a remedy used to question an individual’s claim over the position they are currently holding.
“For example, that incident in Bamban, Tarlac, the citizenship was not questioned when she (Guo) was running as a candidate. But after that, the Solicitor General filed a petition for a quo warranto at the Manila RTC (Regional Trial Court), which eventually led to a proper decision,” he said.
A Manila court recently declared Guo as “undoubtedly a Chinese citizen,” disqualifying her from holding any government position. She has already been dismissed as the Bamban town mayor by the Office of the Ombudsman due to her alleged involvement in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators or Pogos.
