MANILA, Philippines?Administration standard-bearer Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. on Monday said Batangas Governor Vilma Santos and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia were both competent to be his running mate in the 2010 elections.

But he distanced himself from negotiations of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD with any potential candidates to fill in the party's number two spot, saying that he would get involved in the party's choice once he has settled down and has resigned from his post in a couple of weeks.

In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the launching of the Department of National Defense Proper Citizen's Charter Monday, Teodoro denied courting anyone as his potential tandem next year but pointed out that Santos and Garcia were both qualified.

?I'm not pushing for anyone right now and I am leaving it to the party to choose ... I can personally focus my attention to this after I have settled down,? he said.

Teodoro said he would not have any problem working with either Santos, also considered the long-reigning box office queen in Philippine cinema, or Garcia as he had worked with them in regional disaster coordinating council meetings.

?I think the reason why the party chose me because I can convince anyone to my platform and I am easy to work with,? he told reporters.

When asked what made Garcia qualified, he said she was a top-performing governor and someone residing from Visayas. The vote-rich region was known to have delivered a million votes to President Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 elections.

As for Sen. Loren Legarda who has turned down invites from the administration party to be his tandem, he said, ?I will take her statement as a fact.?

When asked what he was looking for in a vice presidential candidate, he replied, ?It's consensus among members of the party because all the names that are cropping up are qualified.?

He continued, ?And the role [the candidate] will take in the administration will have to be tailored to his expertise.?

At an event at the DND at Camp Aguinaldo Monday, Teodoro started bidding the department employees farewell, thanking them and posing with them for pictures.

?Probably, this will be my final weeks in office ... maybe a week or two but it will come to pass soon and I'll take this opportunity in advance to thank each and everyone of you," he said in his speech during the launching ceremony.

Teodoro also reiterated that he was ready to relinquish his post as defense chief by the second week of November.

In the next two weeks, he said he would allot his time wrapping up mechanisms of the newly launched reconstruction commission and meeting with the Senate and Congress to set the groundwork for the P12 billion budget covering rehabilitation for deadly storms Frank, Ondoy and Pepeng.