Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo "Gibo" Teodoro is a Harvard-educated lawyer and licensed commercial pilot. He served as the House Representative for the First District of Tarlac province from 1998 to 2007. Under the Arroyo administration, he became the Secretary of National Defense. He was unsuccessful in his bid for Presidency in 2010 against his second cousin, Noynoy Aquino. More here: http://bit.ly/phCLIC.

Tracing the family roots and the relationship of Noynoy and Gilbert, one will see that both come from different branches of the same tree: the Cojuangco clan — one of the wealthiest and most prominent in the country. The Cojuangcos are said to have come from Co Yu Hwan, a Chinese who came to the Philippines in 1861 and changed his name to Jose Cojuangco. He married a Filipina and sired three children, one of whom is Melecio who married a Chinese-Mestiza named Tecla Chicioco in 1894. Melecio and Tecla eventually transferred to Tarlac, and among their children are Jose, Juan, Antonio and Eduardo.

Jose is the father of the late president Cory Aquino and her brother, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. Jose’s brother Eduardo is the father of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., the chairman of San Miguel Corp. That makes Peping and Cory the first cousins of Danding. The mother of Gilbert is Mercedes “Ditas” Cojuangco, the younger sister of Danding, who married Gilberto Teodoro Sr., the SSS administrator from 1966 to 1986.

Melecio — the grandfather of Cory and Danding and Noynoy and Gilbert’s great grandfather — went into the cultivation of sugarcane and palay, eventually becoming a Tarlac Congressman in the 1900s. He is said to be the first politician in the family. Aside from politics, the Cojuangcos are also known for being one of the richest, owning huge tracts of land and having some of the biggest businesses in the country. Of course, everyone knows that Noynoy’s family owns the vast Hacienda Luisita and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, one of the biggest sugar refineries in the country.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2009/09/13/504411/cojuangco-vs-coj...

Curriculum vitae:

• 2003
• 2006