Noli de Castro
|
|
De Castro (left) during his inauguration as Vice President |
|
14th Vice President of the Philippines
5th Vice President of the 5th Republic |
|
---|---|
Incumbent | |
Assumed office June 30, 2004 |
|
President | Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
Preceded by | Teofisto Guingona |
|
|
Born | July 6, 1949 Pola, Oriental Mindoro |
Political party | Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (2004) Independent (2001-2004, 2004-) |
Spouse | Arlene Sinsuat |
Manuel Leuterio de Castro, Jr. (born July 6, 1949), better known as Noli de Castro, is a politician and former broadcast journalist in the Philippines. De Castro was elected Senator in 2001 and was elected as Vice President of the Philippines in 2004. He is also the current secretary for housing and urban development. He is the first independent Senatorial topnotcher and the first elected independent Vice-President.
On January, 2008, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) directory officially listed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's personal advisers and assistants (undersecretaries, directors and assistant secretaries) in the total of 54. These exclude those under the offices of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and their bureaus and agencies attached to the Office of the President. Vice President Noli de Castro's office pays only 3 officials: a chief of staff, an assistant chief of staff and a director for administration and finance.[1]
Contents |
Noli de Castro was born in the town of Pola, Oriental Mindoro. He graduated from the University of the East in 1971 with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Banking and Finance.
De Castro began his career as a broadcaster during the Marcos dictatorship, when press freedoms were suppressed. He worked as a field reporter for Johnny de Leon, a popular radio announcer at the time. He later became a radio announcer in RPN's DWWW station from 1982 to 1986.
After the ouster of Marcos, de Castro joined ABS-CBN. He got his break into television as the segment host of Good Morning, Philippines' "At your Service". He also joined dzMM, a radio station of ABS-CBN, as the anchorman of "Kabayan". It was because of the popularity of the program that he gained the nickname "Kabayan Noli".
In 1987, De Castro became host of "Magandang Gabi Bayan" and anchorman of the news and public affairs hit, "TV Patrol". In January 1999 he became overall head of production of "TV Patrol" and vice president of dzMM.
In 2001, De Castro successfully ran for senator as an independent candidate, though he campaigned with the opposition. He garnered more than 16 million votes, the highest ever for a senator in the history of Philippine politics at that time.
As a senator, De Castro authored Senate Bill No. 2029 or the "Local Government Transparency Act" which aimed to end corruption through transparency measures in the local government units.
In the 2004 Philippine election, De Castro ran for vice president. He won by a narrow margin over Senator Loren Legarda but an electoral protest was filed by the latter. The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the said protest.[2][3]
In August 2007, charges of bigamy, falsification of public documents, perjury were filed against De Castro and his wife Arlene Sinsuat de Castro by Arlene's sons from previous marriage. The sons Jhoveenel Ombus, 34, and Arjurie Omar Sinsuat Olor accused Arlene Sinsuat de Castro of abandoning them at Calamba, Laguna in 1979, and of having failed to acknowledge that they were her sons. The brothers alleged that the De Castros were married on July 16, 1991, although Arlene’s alleged previous marriage on Nov. 17, 1971 to Juanito Olor, their father, had not been annulled.[4] The case was dismissed for lack of probable cause. [5]
Preceded by Teofisto Guingona, Jr. |
Vice President of the Philippines 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
|
|