Teodoro not closing doors on 2010 presidential race

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. may not yet be entertaining the idea of seeking the presidency come 2010, but he is certainly not closing the door on it.

“If it is bound to happen, it will happen,” Teodoro said when asked about his political plans during a weekly Monday forum with defense and military reporters.

However, he maintained that as of this time he is focused on his job as defense secretary and chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

A member of the Nationalist People Coalition (NPC), a political party headed by his uncle, beer tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Teodoro was earlier rumored to be joining Lakas in line with his presidential ambition.

However, lawyer Nelson Victorino, his spokesman, denied this and said that Teodoro has no other political plans and is certainly not jumping to the other side of the political fence.

The NPC, on the other hand, is reportedly choosing between Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda as its standard bearer.

Teodoro, according to Victorino, has been absent at NPC regular meetings because he is now a member of the presidential family.

“When I accepted this (defense) position I don’t have any connections with all the political parties or political organizations anymore because I promised my constituency (defense, military) that I will devote my time solely for their welfare,” he said yesterday.

Whatever happens beyond his job, he said, would be devoid of political machinations as he stressed that his “loyalty” for now is to the President.

“She entrusted me with this job. My political agenda should be the President’s agenda because she is my boss in the Cabinet and that’s the way it is,” he said.

This statement is now the subject of many political interpretations, among them that he is not, after all, quitting the NPC.

Reacting to clamors by some provincial and local officials from Mindanao for him to run for president, Teodoro said that while it is natural for him to be happy about this, he is not yet ready to “bite.”