Gerardo Espina Sr. | |
Office1: | Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Biliran's at-large congressional district |
Term Start1: | June 30, 1995 |
Term End1: | June 30, 2004 |
Predecessor1: | Position established |
Successor1: | Gerardo Espina Jr. |
Office: | Mayor of Naval, Biliran |
Term Start: | June 30, 2004 |
Term End: | June 30, 2007 |
Office5: | Member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa |
Constituency5: | Region IV |
Termstart5: | June 12, 1978 |
Termend5: | June 5, 1984 |
Birth Date: | 24 May 1935[1] |
Occupation: | Politician |
Party: | NPC (1991–2013) |
Otherparty: | KBL (until 1991) |
Gerardo Sabinay Espina Sr. (May 24, 1935 –February 6, 2013) was a Filipino politician who served as a former representative for Biliran's at-large congressional district in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. He was also the patriarch of the Espina family.[2]
Espina was a delegate of Leyte to the Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971. During the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, he joined the cabinet as Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry, Minister of State for Labor, Administrator of the Export Processing Zone Authority, and member of the Presidential Special Committee on Government Reorganization. At the same time, he served in the Interim Batasang Pambansa as an Assemblyman for Eastern Visayas and concurrent Assistant Majority Leader from 1978 to 1984.[3]
In 1988, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Manila. In 1992, Espina ran for senator in the 1992 Philippine Senate election, losing with 1,755,120 votes or 7.24 percent.
He was the first congressman for the newly established Biliran's at-large congressional district for three terms (1995–2004) under the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).[4]
He was also the mayor of Naval, Biliran from 2004 to 2007.[5]
Espina died from pneumonia on February 6, 2013 at the age of 77. He was buried in the Loyola Memorial Park in Parañaque.[2]