GILBERT “Gibo” Teodoro turned down the offer to head the Department of National Defense (DND), President Duterte revealed on Thursday.
“Coming in tonight, I called him and reiterated my [offer],” Duterte said at a midnight news conference in Davao City.
This was the second time that the commander in chief asked Gibo to be the Defense secretary.
But Duterte said that Gibo did not accept his offer anew.
“Si Gibo, talagang naghugas kamay. This guy siguro had a…” the President said.
“Bad experience in government? Bad experience working with the government?” a reporter tried to fill in.
“No, no, not bad experience in government. He was the secretary of defense. Maybe disenchanted was the word,” he said.
The President added: “He ran for president.”
Teodoro was Defense secretary during the Arroyo administration.
Meanwhile, current DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also rejected the offer to serve as the Philippine ambassador to the United States.
“He [wants] to be here. Matagal na. He was a very good soldier and I got him as my Defense secretary. Sabi niya, Mayor, maniwala man ako sa order mo. Matanda na ako, nakabalik na ako. Gusto ko dito na lang,” he recalled Lorenzana as saying.
Asked about the status of Teodoro and Lorenzana, Duterte said a Cabinet member pointed out the need to fill in the post immediately.
“Kung ayaw nila, maghanap na lang tayo ng iba,” he said.