Noli de Castro
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Philippine name Template:BLP sources Template:Use Philippine English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Manuel "Noli" Leuterio de Castro Jr. (Template:IPA; born July 6, 1949)<ref name="ABS-CBN profile">Template:Cite news</ref> is a Filipino broadcaster, journalist, and former politician who served as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was elected to the Senate of the Philippines in 2001 after receiving the most votes of any senator in the 2001 election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
With a career spanning over five decades, de Castro is among the most recognizable journalists in Philippine broadcast media.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> De Castro is currently the anchor of the radio program Kabayan on DZMM, DZMM TeleRadyo and PRTV Prime Media and the TV program TV Patrol on ANC, Kapamilya Channel, A2Z and ALLTV.Template:Efn He is one of the key television figures in favor of the Philippine drug war undertaken by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Early life and education
De Castro was born as Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. in the town of Pola, Oriental Mindoro at 4:00 pm on July 6, 1949.<ref name="ABS-CBN profile" /><ref name="site2">"Philippines, Civil Registration (Local), 1888–1983," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-27136-14128-86?cc=1410394&wc=9S6Q-ZNG:25271701,27962101,25268603,25270403 Template:Webarchive : accessed April 18, 2014), Oriental Mindoro > Pola > Birth registers > 1947–1951; citing National Census and Statistics Office, Manila.</ref><ref name="site3">"Philippines, Civil Registration (Local), 1888–1983," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-27136-13575-50?cc=1410394&wc=9S6Q-ZNG:25271701,27962101,25268603,25270403 Template:Webarchive : accessed April 18, 2014), Oriental Mindoro > Pola > Birth registers > 1947–1951; citing National Census and Statistics Office, Manila.</ref> He is the fifth child of Manuel de Castro Sr. (born c. 1909) and Demetria (née Leuterio, born c. 1911).<ref name="site2" /><ref name="site3" /> He studied at the University of the East in 1971 with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in banking and finance, and a doctorate degree Honoris causa from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Broadcasting career
De Castro began his broadcasting career during the presidency 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 in RPN's DWWW station from 1982 to 1986.
After the ousting of Marcos in 1986, de Castro joined ABS-CBN, as the segment host for "At Your Service" of Good Morning! Philippines. He also joined DZMM, a radio station of ABS-CBN, as the anchorman of Kabayan, gaining the nickname "Kabayan Noli".Template: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 on Magandang Gabi... Bayan. In January 1999 and July 2024, he became the newscast's overall head of production and became the senior vice president of DZMM.Template: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 program Para Sa'yo, Bayan, which aired weekly on DZMM from July 2, 2005, to June 28, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On July 12, 2010, Kabayan returned with de Castro as its anchor again.<ref name="kabayanreturn">Template:Cite news</ref> On November 8, 2010, he returned as an anchor of TV Patrol, replacing Julius Babao who left the newscast as the latter would move to Bandila alongside Karen Davila. He joined Korina Sanchez and Ted Failon for his second stint until October 7, 2021. On January 10, 2011, he started co-anchoring Radyo Patrol Balita: Alas Siyete (later renamed TeleBalita and TeleRadyo Balita in 2020) as it was combined with Kabayan.<ref name="kabayan2011">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
He had been a staunch critic of almost all programs of President Benigno 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 President Rodrigo Duterte, however, he became meek as former President Arroyo had close ties with Duterte. De Castro has been criticized for perceived misogyny, homophobia and transphobia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in live television.<ref name="Lasco 2018">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> De Castro, along with Persida Acosta, amplified the possibility of Dengvaxia vaccination, which began during former President Aquino's term, as the cause of death of children in the Philippines. It was later proven by the World Health Organization and the Philippine 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".<ref name="Lasco 2018" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On October 7, 2021, de Castro temporarily ended his broadcasting duties to run for senator in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, he shortly withdrew his candidacy for senator. On November 8, 2021, he returned to ABS-CBN and resumed as anchor for both TeleRadyo Balita and Kabayan on TeleRadyo and Kapamilya Channel. He also became the host of the new public affairs program KBYN: Kaagapay ng Bayan on Kapamilya Channel, TeleRadyo and A2Z; it aired until January 1, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 9, 2023, he returned to TV Patrol for his third stint, joining Karen Davila, Bernadette Sembrano and Henry Omaga-Diaz (who ended his broadcasting duties for migrate to Canada and replaced by Alvin Elchico in 2024), coinciding with the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene. In January 2025, he took a temporarily leave from ABS-CBN until February 3, 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also left his DZMM radio program Kabayan indefinitely, primarily because of health concerns, which has restricted him to appearing on TV Patrol, although he has taken multiple leaves since then. Danny Buenafe is serving as the temporary anchor in his absence.Template:Cn
Political career
Senate career (2001–2004)
In the 2001 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 the Puwersa ng Masa coalition, the opposition coalition that backed ousted President Joseph Estrada.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
De Castro did not finish his six-year term when he was elected to the vice presidency in the 2004 Philippine presidential election.
Vice presidency (2004–2010)
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In the 2004 Philippine election, de Castro ran for vice president. He won by a narrow margin over Senator Loren Legarda, but an electoral protest was filed by the latter. The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the protest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite court</ref> He was appointed by President Arroyo as chairman for housing and urban development (HUDCC). As HUDCC Chair, Vice President de Castro also serves as ex officio chairman of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund), the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), the National 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 Template:Currency housing scam involving Globe Asiatique (GA) scam took place.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.
2010 presidential election
De Castro was initially a front runner in the 2010 presidential election. Being the vice president, he was a popular choice among older voters to replace outgoing president Arroyo. However, his lead was taken by Benigno Aquino III (who later won) after Aquino declared his intent to run for president.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2009, he did not file to be included on the ballot. In an interview conducted by Karen 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2022 Senate election bid and subsequent withdrawal
De Castro initially announced his intention to run as senator for the 2022 Senate election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 7, 2021, he took oath as a new member of Aksyon Demokratiko and made his last appearance on his programs. He subsequently filed his certificate of candidacy on October 8.<ref name="isko">Template:Cite news</ref> However, on October 13, he withdrew his candidacy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Electoral history
| Year | Office | Party | Votes received | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | Template:Abbr. | Swing | |||||
| 2001 | Senator of the Philippines | rowspan="2" style="background:Template:Party color;" | | IND | 16,237,386 | 55.09% | 1st | Template:N/a | Template:Won |
| 2004 | Vice President of the Philippines | 15,100,431 | 49.80% | 1st | Template:N/a | Template:Won | ||
Notes
References
External links
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Template:Philippine Vice Presidents Template:PhilPres Template:Candidates in the Philippine presidential election, 2004 Template:12th Congress of the Philippines senators Template:TV Patrol
- Pages with broken file links
- Noli de Castro
- 1949 births
- Living people
- Politicians from Oriental Mindoro
- Mass media people from Manila
- De La Salle University alumni
- Filipino television news anchors
- Filipino radio journalists
- ABS-CBN people
- ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people
- Radio Philippines Network personalities
- Filipino Roman Catholics
- Vice presidents of the Philippines
- Senators of the 12th Congress of the Philippines
- University of the East alumni
- Tagalog people
- Chairpersons of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines
- Independent politicians in the Philippines
- Candidates in the 2004 Philippine vice-presidential election
- Arroyo administration cabinet members
- De Castro family (Philippines)
- Aksyon Demokratiko politicians