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Noli De Castro
13th Vice President of the Philippines 5th Vice President of the 5th Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office  June 30, 2004
President	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Preceded by	Teofisto Guingona
Born	July 6, 1949 (age 57) Pola, Oriental Mindoro
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Arlene Sinsuat

Manuel "Noli" Leuterio De Castro, Jr. (born July 6, 1949) is a politician and former broadcast journalist in the Philippines. De Castro was elected Senator in 2001 and was elected as Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines as the running mate of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2004. He is also the current secretary for housing and urban development. He is the first independent Senatorial topnotcher and the first elected independent Vice-President

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life and broadcasting career 2 Political career 2.1 The De Castro-Soliman Issue 2.2 2005 Arroyo wiretapping scandal 3 See also 4 External links

Noli De Castro was born in the town of Pola, Oriental Mindoro. He graduated from the University of the East in 1971 with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Banking and Finance.

De Castro began his career as a broadcaster during the Marcos dictatorship, when press freedoms were suppressed. 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 ouster of Marcos, De Castro joined ABS-CBN. He got his break into television as the segment host of Good Morning, Philippines' "At your Service". He also joined dzMM, a radio station of ABS-CBN, as the anchorman of "Kabayan". It was because of the popularity of the program that he gained the nickname "Kabayan Noli".

In 1987, De Castro became host of "Magandang Gabi Bayan" and anchorman of the news and public affairs hit, "TV Patrol". In January 1999 he became overall head of production of "TV Patrol" and vice president of dzMM.

In 2001, De Castro successfully ran for senator as an independent candidate, though he campaigned with the opposition. He garnered more than 16 million votes, the highest ever for a senator in the history of Philippine politics at that time.

As a senator, De Castro authored Senate Bill No. 2029 or the "Local Government Transparency Act" which aimed to end corruption through transparency measures in the local government units.

In the 2004 Philippine election, De Castro ran for vice president as the runningmate of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He won by a narrow margin over Senator Loren Legarda but an electoral protest was filed by the latter and is still on-going.

Issues of political patronage immediately began to swirl around the president when rumors that VP-elect Noli de Castro would be taking over as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, replacing incumbent Secretary Dinky Soliman. Soliman, an ardent supporter of President Arroyo during the campaign in the urban poor areas, announced in a tearful press conference that she felt betrayed. Several weeks later, De Castro formally said he would not accept the DSWD post.

In June 2005, President Gloria Arroyo's popularity was rocked by allegations of receiving payments from illegal gambling (juetengate) and by wiretapped conversations that allegedly recorded her involvement in fixing the presidential elections with an elections official (Gloriagate). There were calls for Arroyo to resign, and for De Castro to succeed. However, conventional wisdom was that De Castro was not supported by the elites, and seen as an intellectual lightweight, given his TV anchorman roots. Arroyo on the other hand, is an educated economist and savvy daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal.

• Philippine electoral crisis, 2005
• Vice President of the Philippines

• Office of the Vice President of the Philippines

Preceded by Teofisto Guingona, Jr.

Vice President of the Philippines 2004–present

Succeeded by incumbent

Vice Presidents of the Philippines
Trías | Osmeña | Quirino | Lopez | Garcia | Macapagal | Pelaez Lopez | Tolentino | Laurel | Estrada | Arroyo | Guingona | de Castro

Lists of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Philippines

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Presidential personal life lists	Nicknames • College education • Province • Religious affiliation
Presidential professional life lists	Inaugurations • Currency appearances
Vice President lists of order	Order of service • Birth • Death • Term length
Succession	Line of succession
Elections	Election results
Candidates	Tickets • Former presidents who ran again
Spouses	First Ladies