Can the military respect Gibo acquiring foreign citizenship?

His subsequent documented renunciation does not erase the decision that made that necessary. Soldiers asked to stake their lives in this country are entitled to scrutinize the character of their civilian leader — especially one who directs defense policy — who was willing to abandon his native land. Filipinos should be skeptical of Teodoro, who has been thumping his chest professing to be a resolute nationalist who treats China as an enemy, even feared to be provoking that superpower to go to war against the Philippines — when his links to Malta and the entire European Union that tiny country is a member of, would make it easier for him to leave the country at the drop of a hat.

That he can do so if his wife and son, who had become Maltese citizens with him in 2016, have not renounced such citizenship. I emailed Teodoro and his lawyers to ask whether they did. As of my submission of this column to our editorial desk, I haven’t received any reply from them.

Teodoro’s Maltese citizenship was disclosed to the public by a Manila Times reporter way back in July 2025. His “Renunciation of Maltese Citizenship,” sworn to on Sept. 30, 2021, before a notary public and submitted to the Comelec on Oct. 7, 2021, when he filed his candidacy for senator, was very strangely unreported by media.

Is a scenario too far-fetched that he may have also applied for and obtained citizenship in five other European countries offering similar fast-track citizenship, which he hasn’t disclosed?

What remains is the political and moral question raised by his original decision. Why did a man who had already served as defense secretary, sought the presidency in 2010, and benefited so extensively from Philippine society decide that Filipino citizenship was insufficient for his purposes? What does that choice tell the officers and enlisted personnel now expected to follow his policies, including policies that could expose them to confrontation with a much stronger military power?

Character

Teodoro is the only Cabinet member out of the estimated 250 such high officials since the Cory Aquino administration to have sought and obtained foreign citizenship. That says volumes about Teodoro’s character.

The chronology sharpens the question. Teodoro sought the presidency in 2010, applied for Maltese citizenship in 2014, and got it in 2016, after having served as defense secretary. He says he renounced it in 2021 before filing his certificate of candidacy to run for a Senate seat in the 2022 elections. His personal declaration and Malta’s recognition are distinct acts, but the political sequence is clear: A former aspirant to the presidency acquired another citizenship, then gave it up as he sought a return to public office.

Did Teodoro reconsider the meaning of his Maltese citizenship, or did he surrender a useful privilege because it stood in the way of public office?

His explanation for acquiring Maltese citizenship has been convenience in travel and business. In a July 2025 radio interview, he said that he was constantly moving between the Philippines and Europe and found repeated visa applications burdensome.

That’s a very lame excuse, to put it kindly. Teodoro acquired his Maltese citizenship through Malta’s investment program (ended in 2025). This required a total of the euro equivalent of P105 million, half of which is non-refundable and half invested in property or other assets in Malta, which can be sold only after five years. Is Teodoro really so rich that he can spend P105 million so he wouldn’t have to get a Maltese visa — which also allows him to travel to any of the 27 nations of the European Union?

There is an important difference between his circumstances and those of Filipinos who leave to find work abroad, reunite with family or build a livelihood unavailable to them at home. Acquiring another nationality does not automatically make such people disloyal. Teodoro’s circumstances call for a different assessment because he had wealth, professional opportunities and access to the highest offices here. His own account describes a voluntary arrangement for business and mobility. That is the choice the public should evaluate, without making a sweeping accusation against Filipino migrants or dual citizens.

Surrendered

The issue is the example set by a man who had already sought to lead the country. The available record does not establish that he formally surrendered Philippine citizenship, deserted the country or intended to flee a conflict. His acknowledged decision is enough to warrant scrutiny: He chose an additional national affiliation for personal advantage, then relinquished it when returning to politics. Citizens may reasonably ask whether that shows a conception of citizenship consistent with the responsibilities of a national defense secretary.

The military question follows from that judgment. Military leadership depends on confidence in the person making decisions that can endanger lives. Officers may obey lawful civilian authority while still questioning the consistency of the official exercising it. How convincing is an appeal to national sacrifice from someone who once decided that citizenship in another nation was worth acquiring for his own convenience? Teodoro’s qualifications and experience are relevant, but they cannot make that question disappear.

His wife and son’s positions also remain unresolved in the correspondence with me. Neither Teodoro nor his lawyers answered my question whether Monica and Jaime also completed the renunciation of their Maltese citizenship.

It makes a lot of financial sense, though, for his wife and son not to renounce their Maltese citizenship since that would mean that the P105 million he spent won’t go down the drain, as his loved ones would benefit from being Malta citizens. More importantly, if his wife remains Maltese, her citizenship could provide him a route to residence in Malta even after his own renunciation.

The family issue does not justify imputing disloyalty to his wife or son. They are not the officials setting defense policy, and family citizenship alone cannot establish wrongdoing by Teodoro. They simply want a better, more fulfilling life outside the Philippines, in Europe.

This controversy cannot be dismissed merely as an argument over his Maltese passport that expires at the end of this year. The document establishes an important change in status. The earlier acquisition remains a choice made by a former defense chief who had already asked Filipinos to entrust him with the presidency, and I think, still will in 2028.

Teodoro still owes an explanation of why he acquired Maltese citizenship in the first place, other than the very lame excuse that he got tired of applying for visas in Europe.

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Can the military respect Gibo acquiring foreign citizenship?
Source: Breaking News PH