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Noli de Castro | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2004 | |
| 12th Vice President of the Philippines | |
| In office June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2010 | |
| President | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo |
| Preceded by | Teofisto Guingona Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Jejomar Binay |
| Presidential Adviser forOverseas Filipino Workers | |
| In office August 11, 2004 – June 30, 2010 | |
| President | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo |
| Succeeded by | Jejomar Binay |
| 2nd Chairman of theHousing and Urban Development Coordinating Council | |
| In office June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2010 | |
| President | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo |
| Preceded by | Mike Defensor |
| Succeeded by | Jejomar Binay |
| Senator of the Philippines | |
| In office June 30, 2001 – June 30, 2004[a] | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. (1949-07-06)July 6, 1949 (age 76) Pola, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines |
| Political party | Aksyon (2021–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (2001–2021) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingKat |
| Alma mater | University of the East (BS) |
| Occupation |
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| Nickname |
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| TV/radio shows hosted |
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Manuel "Noli"Leuterio de Castro Jr. (Tagalog pronunciation:[lɛ.ʊˌtɛːɾ.jodɛˈkaːs.tɾo]; born July 6, 1949)[3] is a Filipino broadcaster, journalist, and former politician who served as the 12thVice President of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010 under PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was elected to theSenate of the Philippines in 2001 after receiving the most votes of any senator in the2001 election.[4]
With a career spanning over five decades, de Castro is among the most recognizable journalists in Philippine broadcast media.[5][6] De Castro is currently the anchor of the radio programKabayan onDZMM,DZMM TeleRadyo andPRTV Prime Media and the TV programTV Patrol onANC,Kapamilya Channel,A2Z andALLTV.[b] He is one of the key television figures in favor of thePhilippine drug war undertaken by the administration of PresidentRodrigo Duterte.
De Castro was born as Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. in the town ofPola, Oriental Mindoro at 4:00 pm on July 6, 1949.[3][7][8] He is the fifth child of Manuel de Castro Sr. (born c. 1909) and Demetria (née Leuterio, born c. 1911).[7][8] He studied at theUniversity of the East in 1971 with a degree inBachelor of Commerce, majoring in banking and finance, and a doctorate degreeHonoris causa from thePolytechnic University of the Philippines.
De Castro began his broadcasting career during thepresidency of Ferdinand Marcos. He worked as a field reporter for Johnny de Leon, a popular radio announcer at the time. He later became a radio announcer inRPN'sDWWW station from 1982 to 1986.
After theousting of Marcos in 1986, de Castro joinedABS-CBN, as the segment host for "At Your Service" ofGood Morning! Philippines. He also joinedDZMM, a radio station of ABS-CBN, as the anchorman ofKabayan, gaining the nickname "Kabayan Noli".[citation needed]
In 1987, he became one of the anchors of the news and public affairs show,TV Patrol; he later become the sole anchor on July 8, 1996. The following year, de Castro became an anchor onMagandang Gabi... Bayan. In January 1999 and July 2024, he became the newscast's overall head of production and became the senior vice president ofDZMM.[citation needed] On February 12, 2001, de Castro left the newscast to run for Senator.
During his term as Vice President of the Philippines from 2004 to 2010, he co-anchored the programPara Sa'yo, Bayan, which aired weekly on DZMM from July 2, 2005, to June 28, 2010.[9]
On July 12, 2010,Kabayan returned with de Castro as its anchor again.[10] On November 8, 2010, he returned as an anchor ofTV Patrol, replacingJulius Babao who left the newscast as the latter would move toBandila alongsideKaren Davila. He joinedKorina Sanchez andTed Failon for his second stint until October 7, 2021. On January 10, 2011, he started co-anchoringRadyo Patrol Balita: Alas Siyete (later renamedTeleBalita andTeleRadyo Balita in 2020) as it was combined withKabayan.[11][12]
He had been a staunch critic of almost all programs of PresidentBenigno Aquino III, who has criticized former President Arroyo, de Castro's running mate in the 2004 elections. He has been known to fire tirades against Aquino throughout Aquino's presidency (which ended in May 2016). During the administration of PresidentRodrigo Duterte, however, he became meek as former President Arroyo had close ties with Duterte. De Castro has been criticized for perceivedmisogyny,homophobia andtransphobia[13] in live television.[14] In 2018, he was being eyed by the Duterte administration for a possible return in politics under the new administration. De Castro supports the Philippine Drug War.[15] De Castro, along withPersida Acosta, amplified the possibility ofDengvaxia vaccination, which began during former President Aquino's term, as the cause of death of children in the Philippines. It was later proven by theWorld Health Organization and thePhilippine Department of Health that Dengvaxia is safe and that the initial deaths of children were not connected with Dengvaxia. Various organizations have blamed de Castro and Acosta for their misinformation which led to the deaths of numerous Filipino youths due to a "vaccination scare campaign".[14][16]
On October 7, 2021, de Castro temporarily ended his broadcasting duties torun for senator in 2022.[17][18] However, he shortly withdrew his candidacy for senator. On November 8, 2021, he returned to ABS-CBN and resumed as anchor for bothTeleRadyo Balita andKabayan onTeleRadyo andKapamilya Channel. He also became the host of the new public affairs programKBYN: Kaagapay ng Bayan on Kapamilya Channel, TeleRadyo andA2Z; it aired until January 1, 2023.[19] On January 9, 2023, he returned toTV Patrol for his third stint, joiningKaren Davila,Bernadette Sembrano andHenry Omaga-Diaz (who ended his broadcasting duties for migrate to Canada and replaced byAlvin Elchico in 2024), coinciding with the celebration of theFeast of the Black Nazarene. In January 2025, he took a temporarily leave from ABS-CBN until February 3, 2025.[20] He also left his DZMM radio programKabayan indefinitely, primarily because of health concerns, which has restricted him to appearing onTV Patrol, although he has taken multiple leaves since then. Danny Buenafe is serving as the temporary anchor in his absence.[citation needed]
In the2001 Philippine Senate election, de Castro garnered the most votes and was the top-notcher for that year, garnering over 16.2 million votes running as an Independent under thePuwersa ng Masa coalition, the opposition coalition that backed oustedPresident Joseph Estrada.[21]
De Castro's three-year stint in the Senate saw him author 252 bills and resolutions, including the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2002, Balikbayan Law of 2002, Quarantine Act and Newborn Screening Test Act of 2001.[22]
De Castro did not finish his six-year term when he was elected to the vice presidency in the2004 Philippine presidential election.
| Vice presidential styles of Noli de Castro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Excellency, The Honorable |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Alternative style | Mr. Vice President |
In the2004 Philippine election, de Castro ran for vice president. He won by a narrow margin over SenatorLoren Legarda, but an electoral protest was filed by the latter. TheSupreme Court, acting as thePresidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the protest.[23][24] He was appointed by President Arroyo aschairman forhousing andurban development (HUDCC). As HUDCC Chair, Vice President de Castro also serves as ex officio chairman of theHome Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund), the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), theNational Housing Authority (Philippines) (NHA), the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) and the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) as well as ex officio vice chairman of the Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC). He has also been designated as concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, as alternate chairman of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, head of the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment, price monitoring czar and cabinet officer for Regional Development Palawan.
De Castro was chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund when the ₱6.6 billion housing scam involving Globe Asiatique (GA) scam took place.[25] Throughout his vice presidency, de Castro had minimal limelight and was regarded only as "backup" for the then incumbent party coalition if ever President Arroyo was ousted.
De Castro was initially a front runner in the2010 presidential election. Being the vice president, he was a popular choice among older voters to replace outgoing president Arroyo. However, his lead was taken byBenigno Aquino III (who later won) after Aquino declared his intent to run for president.[26] In December 2009, he did not file to be included on the ballot. In an interview conducted byKaren Davila, he announced that he would retire from politics at the end of his vice presidential term and intended to commit himself full time to broadcast journalism.[27]
De Castro initially announced his intention to run as senator for the2022 Senate election.[28][29] On October 7, 2021, he took oath as a new member ofAksyon Demokratiko and made his last appearance on his programs. He subsequently filed his certificate of candidacy on October 8.[30] However, on October 13, he withdrew his candidacy.[31][32][33]
| Year | Office | Party | Votes received | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Swing | |||||
| 2001 | Senator of the Philippines | IND | 16,237,386 | 55.09% | 1st | — | Won | |
| 2004 | Vice President of the Philippines | 15,100,431 | 49.80% | 1st | — | Won | ||
Their marriage was annulled in 1998.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Vice President of the Philippines 2004–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofHousing and Urban Development Coordinating Council 2004–2010 | |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded byas Former Vice President | Order of Precedence of the Philippines (Ceremonial) as Former Vice President | Succeeded byas Former Vice President |
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