Noli de Castro

Manuel "Noli" Leuterio de Castro Jr. (born July 6, 1949) is a Filipino journalist, news anchor and 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.

With a career spanning over five decades, De Castro is among the most recognizable journalists in Philippine broadcast media. De Castro is the anchor of the radio programs Kabayan and TeleRadyo Serbisyo Balita, and the TV program TV Patrol. 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. He is the fifth child of Manuel de Castro Sr. (born c. 1909) and Demetria (née Leuterio, born c. 1911). 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".

In 1987, he became one of the anchors of the news and public affairs show, TV Patrol. The following year, de Castro became an anchor on Magandang Gabi... Bayan. On April 1, 1996, he became the sole anchor of TV Patrol, and in January 1999, he became the newscast's overall head of production and became the vice president of DZMM.

During his term as Vice President of the Philippines from 2004 to 2010, On July 2, 2005, to June 28, 2010, he co-anchored the program Para Sa'yo, Bayan, which aired weekly on DZMM.

On July 12, 2010, Kabayan returned with de Castro as its anchor again. 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 (the former was replaced by Bernadette Sembrano in August 2015 and the latter was replaced by Henry Omaga-Diaz in October 2020) 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.

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 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".

On November 8, 2021, after backing out of another Senate run, de Castro 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. On January 9, 2023, he returned to TV Patrol for his third stint, joining Bernadette Sembrano, Henry Omaga-Diaz and Karen Davila, coinciding with the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene.

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.

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.

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)
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. 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 6.6 billion PHP housing scam involving Globe Asiatique (GA) 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 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. 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.

2022 Senate election bid and subsequent withdrawal
De Castro initially announced his intention to run as senator for the 2022 Senate election. 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. However, on October 13, he withdrew his candidacy.