Manila's Arroyo names congressman next defence chief

MANILA, June 30 (Reuters) Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has appointed a three-term congressman and staunch political ally as the country's next defence secretary, her press secretary said today.

Ignacio Bunye told a radio interview today that Tarlac Congressman Gilbert Teodoro would join the Cabinet on Aug. 3, designating National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as acting defence chief for about a month.

Hermogenes Ebdane, a retired police general who assumed the defence portfolio only in February, would return to his old position as secretary of public works and highways.

''I am humbled and sincerely honoured,'' Teodoro told reporters in mobile phone text messages today, declining to make further comments until he has spoken to the president.

Teodoro, a lawyer by training and profession, would be the second civilian to be appointed by Arroyo to head the defence department after lawyer Avelino Cruz who held the position from August 2004 to November 2006.

''That's great, he will bring fresh blood and newer ideas to the defence and military establishments,'' an army general commented after learning of Teodoro's appointment. ''He's no stranger to the military and he has dynamic spirit.'' Teodoro would face tougher tasks to reform the defence and military establishments, fighing twin insurgencies from Muslim separatists and communist rebels since the late 1950s.

The Philippine military also has image problems, perceived to be saddled by corruption and involvement in the murders of journalists and left-wing activists.

The Philippines is confronting a small group of Islamic militants with ties to al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah, blamed for bomb attacks in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

A nephew of Eduardo ''Danding'' Cojuangco, chairman of San Miguel Corp., Southeast Asia's biggest food and drinks food, Teodoro served for nine years as congressman of Tarlac province, north of the capital Manila.

He voted twice to protect the president from impeachment motions in 2005 and 2006 and his political party, Nationalist People's Coalition, belonged to the pro-administration group in the lower house of Congress.

Teodoro, who earned a master's law degree at Harvard University, was an air force lieutenant-colonel in the reserve forces after completing studies at the National Defence College of the Philippines.

REUTERS PJ BST1400