DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr has renounced his passport from Malta, effectively giving up his Maltese citizenship, the Department of National Defense (DND) said yesterday.
The DND issued the statement following a report that Malta has issued a passport, valid for 10 years, to Teodoro in December 2016, making him a dual citizen of the Philippines and of the European country.
Philippine laws prohibit Filipinos with dual citizenship, specifically those who acquired foreign citizenship through naturalization, from holding government posts,
Excluded are those acquired the foreign citizenship by birth, derivative naturalization, or adoption.
The report said Teodoro may have acquired the passport through Malta’s citizenship-by-investment program. It raised security concerns over Teodoro’s heading the Department of National Defense because of his dual citizenship.
Responding to the report, the DND said: “The alleged existing Maltese passport of Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. was surrendered and renounced prior to the filing of his certificate of candidacy in 2021 for the 2022 elections.”
“Its existence was disclosed to the Bureau of Immigration and Comelec prior to the 2022 elections, as well as to the Committee on Appointments prior to their confirmation of his appointment as Defense Secretary,” the DND added.
Teodoro ran for senator in the 2022 elections but lost.
He held the post of defense secretary from 2007 to 2009, way before he acquired the Malta passport.
The DND questioned the timing of the report.
“The motive of this rumor is clear and known to Secretary Teodoro. The timing of the article adds to this motive,” the DND said, without elaborating.”
Teodoro has been critical of China’s expansive claims in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea. The Chinese have harassed Philippine government vessels, aircraft and even fishing boats to assert its claim.
On Saturday, the Philippines marked the ninth anniversary of the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s excessive claim in the South China Sea, and upheld the Philippine rights to 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
