PASAY CITY — Four complainants filed a joint complaint-affidavit on June 18, 2026 before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Pasay City, asking it to conduct a preliminary investigation against Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. over a Maltese passport once issued in his name, and to subpoena his citizenship and passport records from multiple government agencies.
The complaint seeks to determine whether Teodoro's declarations on a Philippine passport application filed on or about March 17, 2017, were materially inconsistent with a Maltese passport that the complainants say was valid from December 22, 2016 to December 22, 2026.
Three Criminal Statutes Cited in the Complaint
According to the complaint-affidavit, the complainants are asking the Pasay City Prosecutor to build a case against Teodoro for potential violations of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, or Republic Act No. 8239, which governs the issuance and use of Philippine passports and prohibits material misrepresentations in passport applications.
The complaint also cites falsification of a public document under the Revised Penal Code, and perjury — the latter applicable if the declarations in question were made under oath. The complainants asked the prosecutor to form a panel of prosecutors to handle the preliminary investigation and case build-up.
The allegations remain unproven at this stage. Under Philippine legal procedure, a complaint-affidavit initiates the preliminary investigation process, but the prosecutor must independently determine whether probable cause exists before any charge can be filed in court. Teodoro has not yet been required to submit a counter-affidavit or otherwise answer the complaint.
Who Filed the Complaint and What They Are Seeking
The four complainants identified themselves as Filipino citizens and taxpayers acting in the public interest. They are lawyer Russel C. Miraflor, a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, together with Antonio Balondo Jr., Ernie Arimala, and Jerry M. Honrado.
In their complaint, the four stressed that they were, in their own words, "not filing this case to harass, vex, or embarrass" Teodoro, and stated that the matter should be resolved based on official records rather than "conjecture or political conclusion."
In their prayer for relief, the complainants asked the Pasay City Prosecutor to issue subpoenas to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, Civil Service Commission, Department of National Defense, and Bureau of Internal Revenue for certified true copies of relevant documents. These documents include passport applications, issuance records, travel records, and any citizenship reacquisition filings connected to Teodoro.
The complainants further asked that records be formally requested through official diplomatic or government channels from Maltese authorities regarding Teodoro's citizenship status, passport issuance, and any renunciation he may have executed.
Core Documentary Claim: Maltese Passport and Philippine Application
At the center of the complaint is a documentary discrepancy. According to the affidavit, Teodoro "appears to have held a Maltese passport valid from 22 December 2016 to 22 December 2026." The complainants argue that his Philippine passport application or renewal filed on or about March 17, 2017 — while that Maltese passport was active — contained declarations on citizenship or foreign passport status that "appear materially inconsistent" with the existence of that Maltese document.
The complaint, which runs at least 15 pages, was reviewed in part by Kuryente News. The pages reviewed covered the opening sections and the prayer for relief. The detailed factual narrative of the complaint falls on pages not included in the copy reviewed by Kuryente News.
Teodoro's Prior Statements on the Maltese Passport
The Maltese passport issue is not new to Teodoro. The matter surfaced publicly in July 2025, when the Department of National Defense issued a statement saying that Teodoro's Maltese passport "was surrendered and renounced" before he filed his certificate of candidacy in 2021 ahead of the 2022 senatorial elections.
The DND further said at that time that the existence of the Maltese passport had been disclosed to the Bureau of Immigration, the Commission on Elections, and the Commission on Appointments prior to Teodoro's confirmation as Secretary of National Defense.
Teodoro himself confirmed in July 2025 that he had obtained Maltese citizenship through Malta's investment program. He said he relinquished it "through both the Philippine and the Maltese process" before entering the 2022 senatorial race. He characterized the issue as a "smear campaign" he linked to his publicly stated positions on the West Philippine Sea dispute with China.
Legal Framework Governing Dual Citizenship and Public Office
Under Republic Act No. 9225, also known as the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003, natural-born Filipinos who acquire foreign citizenship may reacquire Philippine citizenship. The law also allows dual citizens to hold Philippine public office, subject to the condition that they renounce their foreign citizenship before running for elective office or before accepting an appointive post in government.
Legal experts who commented on the 2025 version of the controversy said that if Teodoro had completed a valid renunciation of his Maltese citizenship prior to 2022, the core question of eligibility would largely be resolved. The present complaint, however, focuses not on eligibility alone but on whether the declarations made in his 2017 Philippine passport application were accurate at the time they were made — a question that turns on the documentary record rather than his eventual renunciation.
Defense Department Has Not Responded to the New Filing
As of the filing date of June 18, 2026, the Department of National Defense had not issued any statement addressing the new complaint filed before the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office.
The Pasay City Prosecutor's Office has not publicly indicated whether it has docketed the complaint or set a timeline for evaluating whether to proceed with a formal preliminary investigation. Standard procedure requires the prosecutor's office to first assess the sufficiency of the complaint before issuing subpoenas or requiring a respondent to file a counter-affidavit.
Next Steps in the Preliminary Investigation Process
Under the Rules on Criminal Procedure, a complaint-affidavit filed before a city or provincial prosecutor triggers a preliminary investigation, during which the prosecutor determines whether there is sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and that the respondent is probably guilty. Only after a finding of probable cause can an information be filed in court to formally charge the respondent.
If the Pasay City Prosecutor finds the complaint sufficient in form and substance, Teodoro will be required to submit a counter-affidavit. The subpoenas to government agencies — including the DFA, Bureau of Immigration, and DND — would be a key component of building the documentary record that the complainants say is necessary to resolve the core factual questions.
No hearing date or response deadline has been publicly announced as of this report. The Department of National Defense and Teodoro's office may issue statements in the coming days as the complaint becomes more widely reported.
Photo credit: Photo from Kuryente News