Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr., better known as Noli de Castro or "Kabayan" Noli de Castro, is a Filipino journalist, anchorman and politician. He was elected to the Senate of the Philippines in 2001 after receiving the most votes of any Senator in the 2001 election. He served as the 12thVice President of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010, under then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. As of May 2020, de Castro anchors both his radio programs Kabayan and Radyo Patrol Balita Alas-Siyete on TeleRadyo and TV Patrol on ABS-CBN. He is one of the key television figures who are in favor of the Philippine Drug War undertaken by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Early life and broadcasting career
De Castro was born in the town of Pola, Oriental Mindoro at 4:00 pm on July 6, 1949. He is the fifth child of Manuel de Castro Sr. and Demetria. 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 degreeHonoris causa from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. De Castro began his career as a broadcaster during the Marcos dictatorship, when press freedom was 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 in 1986, de Castro joined ABS-CBN. He got his break into television 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. It was because of the popularity of the program that he gained the nickname "Kabayan Noli." In 1987, de Castro became an anchor on Magandang Gabi, Bayan and anchorman of the news and public affairs hit, TV Patrol. In July 1996, he became the sole anchor of the newscast and in January 1999 he became the newscast's overall head of production and became the vice president of DZMM.
Vice Presidency (2004-2010)
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, dismissed the protest. He was appointed by President Arroyo as chairman for housing and urban development. As HUDCC Chair, Vice President de Castro also serves as ex official Chairman of the Home Development Mutual Fund, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the National Housing Authority, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation and the Social Housing Finance Corporation as well as ex officio Vice Chairman of the Home Guaranty Corporation. De Castro was chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund when the housing scam involving Globe Asiatique scam took place. 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 initially was a front runner in the 2010 presidential elections. Being the Vice President, he was popular among old voters to replace outgoing president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. His lead was, however, taken by Noynoy Aquino after Aquino declared his intent to run for president. In December 2009, he did not file to be included on the ballot and in an interview conducted by Karen Davila, he announced he would retire from politics at the end of his vice presidential term and intended to commit himself full time to broadcast journalism.
Return to television
In November 2010, he returned as an anchor of TV Patrol. He had been a staunch critic of almost all programs of President Noynoy Aquino, 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 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 in live television. 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. 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".
