From humble beginnings as a radio broadcaster, Vice President Noli de Castro is quietly preparing for the possibility of succeeding embattled President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid growing calls for an orderly constitutional transition.
De Castro was celebrating his 56th birthday with his wife in Hong Kong this week when Arroyo summoned him back as a month-long crisis over allegations that she rigged last year's ballot took a dramatic turn Thursday with rumors of looming defections among her Cabinet members. Ten quit Friday, accusing Arroyo of losing the ability to govern, and urged the nation to unite behind de Castro.
De Castro could be treading in his boss' footsteps. Arroyo, vice president at the time, took over in January 2001 when President Joseph Estrada was toppled in a "people power" revolt on corruption charges. Last May, she won her own six-year mandate.
De Castro, a quiet, unassuming journalist-turned-politician, has worked in Arroyo's shadow, rarely taking the spotlight. With vice president a largely ceremonial post, he is chairman of the housing and urban council and presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers.
While some Arroyo allies expressed support for her amid snowballing calls for her resignation, de Castro only supported the constitution. After former President Corazon Aquino called on erstwhile ally Arroyo to "make the supreme sacrifice of resigning," de Castro said Friday: "We should accord due deference and serious thought to President Cory Aquino's call to rally behind the constitution."
Arroyo took issue with Aquino, saying her actions "caused deep and grievous harm to the nation because they undermine our democratic principles and the very foundation of our constitution."
"We should respect President Cory's call. I only wish to remind everyone that the exercise of our democratic rights must be made within the bounds of the constitution and the rule of law," de Castro said after earlier suggesting Arroyo should be given time to weigh her options.
He also thanked former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who led the mass Cabinet resignations, for supporting him as the constitutional successor. The opposition was divided over de Castro.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, who finished third in last year's election, said he would support him. But Susan Roces, the outspoken widow of runner-up Fernando Poe Jr. -- who died of a stroke in December without conceding defeat -- said opposition vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda should take over.
Some in the opposition believe that if Arroyo cheated, then running mate de Castro was also tainted.
De Castro has been portraying himself as a regular guy, an outsider who grew up without the privileges of the wealthy, ruling political dynasties. He once said he was "gathering pig's fodder from our neighbors for my pet pig, which I would raise in order to be sold later for a hefty sum."
He began his career as a broadcaster during Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship, and after his 1986 ouster, joined ABS-CBN radio and television, where he got his break as host of a popular evening TV show. He earned the nickname "Kabayan" (countryman) for his broadcasts in native Tagalog.
In 2001, de Castro won a senate seat as an independent, though he campaigned with the opposition.
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
The US will help bolster the Philippines’ arsenal and step up joint military exercises, Manila’s defense chief said, as tensions between Washington and China escalate. The longtime US ally is expecting a sustained US$500 million in annual defense funding from Washington through 2029 to boost its military capabilities and deter China’s “aggression” in the region, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview in Manila on Thursday. “It is a no-brainer for anybody, because of the aggressive behavior of China,” Teodoro said on close military ties with the US under President Donald Trump. “The efforts for deterrence, for joint resilience
RSS