Noli 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.
Biography
Early life and broadcasting career
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 dzWW 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.
Political career
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.
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-Leviste.
2005 Arroyo wiretapping scandal
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.