The Commission on Appointments (CA) approved the ad interim appointment of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. on Wednesday.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the CA does not doubt the “fitness and integrity of the nominee".

“The 12-member House contingent will no longer ask questions regarding the nominee being a former member of Congress for three consecutive terms in the 11th, 12th, and 13th Congress,” he said.

“I would like to say that his appointment came at a very opportune time, not only in addressing the issues of internal security threats, but also, above all, the external threats with the heightening tensions in the West Philippine Sea,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri stressed.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr appointed Teodoro as defense secretary on June 5, replacing Carlito Galvez Jr.

Teodoro served as defense secretary in 2007 and ended his stint at the department in 2009. At the time, he was the youngest to ever hold the post.

As defense chief, Teodoro led the implementation of the AFP Modernization Program and spearheaded operations to rescue kidnapped volunteers of the International Committee of the Red Cross by members of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in January 2009. Jaspearl Tan/DMS