Philippine defense chief renounced Maltese citizenship before his appointment, department says

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had renounced his Maltese citizenship and disclosed it to Filipino authorities before taking office, the Defense Department said Monday.

Philippine law generally disqualifies candidates for high public office who have dual citizenship, especially those with foreign citizenship acquired through naturalization, unless they renounce their foreign citizenship.

Teodoro, who was appointed defense chief by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2023, is one of the most vocal critics of China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and elsewhere in Asia. He has led efforts by the Philippines to deepen its treaty alliance with the United States and build new security ties with other countries to deter China.

The Manila Times reported Teodoro had acquired a Maltese passport in 2016 with a validity of 10 years. The Defense Department said, however, Teodoro’s Maltese passport “was surrendered and renounced” before he filed his certificate of candidacy for a Senate seat in 2021. Teodoro lost that senatorial bid.

A Philippine congressional committee on appointments was also notified that Teodoro had renounced his Maltese passport and citizenship before it confirmed his appointment as defense secretary, the defense department said and suggested that critics were trying to undermine his image.

“The motive of this rumor is clear and known to Sec. Teodoro,” the defense department said without elaborating. “The timing of the article adds to this motive.”

The Department of National Defense did not provide details of Teodoro’s acquisition of his passport from Malta, which belongs to the 27-nation European Union. Malta, through its so-called golden passport scheme, has allowed foreigners to become citizens through financial investment.

In April, the European Court of Justice ordered Malta to close its “golden passport” program, ruling that citizenship in EU countries cannot be sold. Programs that allow wealthy people to buy citizenship were once widespread in Europe, but they’ve been rolled back out of concern they facilitate transnational crime and sanctions evasion.