2. Amado Espino Jr.
• Amado Totaan Espino Jr. (born June 20, 1948) is a Filipino
politician and the former representative of Pangasinan's 5th
District in the Philippine House of Representatives. He earlier
served as Governor of the province of Pangasinan.
3. • Espino was born on June 20, 1948. He finished his secondary
education at Bayambang National High School in 1966. He took up
three courses in college. First, he took up Bachelor of Science in
education (Pangasinan Normal College) but he did not finish it.
Then he shifted to Bachelor of Science in commerce (Luzon
Colleges). Again, he did not pursue it. In 1972, he earned the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Philippine Military Academy and
even obtained a degree in Masters in Development Management in
1995 at Pangasinan State University.
4. Career history
• A graduate of PMA, Espino was placed in different police ranks. He
started out as an intelligence and operations officer in Quirino
Constabulary Command; then, as company commander both in
the Philippine Constabulary of La Union and Pangasinan; commanding
officer of Angeles Metrodiacom, Pampanga; district commander in
Criminal Investigation Service, Region 3 of Philippine National Police;
narcotics regional chief of Region 3, Philippine National Police; provincial
director, La Union Police Provincial office; provincial director, Pangasinan
Police Provincial office; chief, Regional Directorial Staff in Region I,
Philippine National Police; and finally, as a regional director in Region I,
Philippine National Police.
5. As a lawmaker and governor
• Two-time representative of the second district of Pangasinan,
Espino was the first former military and police officer in modern
times to become governor of Pangasinan.
• Espino vowed to restore peace and order in Pangasinan in the
wake of unsolved political killings of San Carlos City Mayor Julian
Resuello and San Manuel Vice Mayor Bonie Apilado.
6. • In the campaign, Espino vowed to also put an end to cattle
rustling which is rampant in some towns of central Pangasinan,
particularly in San Carlos City.
• Espino also outlined his other top priorities for Pangasinan which
are: tourism and investments promotions; environmental protection,
sports development and hosting of national and international
events using the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center
in Lingayen, venue of the 1995 Palarong Pambansa.
7. • During his oath-taking on June 30, 2007, he was quoted as saying, “Our
destiny as a province and our future as a people depend not upon one
single person, much less the governor, even with all the powers in his
hands."
• In 2016 National and Local Elections, Espino ran for representative of 5th
District of Pangasinan under Aksyon Demokratiko Party and he was able
to win on 2016 Elections against his former ally, Carmen "Kimi"
Cojuangco, whose seeking her third and last term in Congress. Espino
sought for re-election bid for the second time in the recently concluded
2019 Midterm Elections, however, he lost to Ramon Guico III, a last-term
Mayor of Binalonan town located in 5th District.
8. • Meanwhile, Congressman Espino's youngest child, Mayor Jumel
Anthony of Bugallon town, won as representative of 2nd District of
Pangasinan as well as his wife, Priscilla, won for Mayor of
Bugallon, succeeding for their son and lastly incumbent
Pangasinan governor Amado "Pogi" Espino III was re-elected for
his second term.
9. Controversies
• Jueteng involvement
• In December 2012, Governor Amado Espino was accused of
receiving bribes from jueteng operators in Pangasinan amounting
to P10 million per month. Espino believes that is political smearing
against him by Alaminos Mayor Nani Braganza, his opponent in the
election.[2]
• Jueteng is an illegal numbers game in the Philippines.
10. Allegation of drug trafficking
• In August 2016, Congressman Amado Espino was identified as one of six
government officials accused of illegal drug operations at the New Bilibid
Prison. The drug matrix released by the government also linked Espino
to illegal mining operations in Pangasinan.[3] On September 27, 2016,
President Duterte cleared Espino of the charges relating to the illegal
drug trade, publicly apologized to him for the lapse in the validation of the
intelligence report, but maintained that the charges of illegal mining
against him and Pangasinan Administrator Rafael Baraan remain valid as
the Sandiganbayan has already decided on the case. He later decided to
leave his old party and joined PDP–Laban.
11. Black sand mining
• On September 8, 2016, the Sandiganbayan ordered a 90-day
suspension for Espino as Congressman of Pangasinan due to
alleged black sand mining in the province.
12. References
1. "Governor's Profile - Pangasinan". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12.
Retrieved 2009-03-23.
2. ^ Ramos, Marlon (December 14, 2012). "Pangasinan governor tied to 'jueteng'". The
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
3. ^ Viray, P.L. (25 August 2016). "Duterte matrix tags De Lima, ex-Pangasinan guv in
drug trade". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
4. ^ Macas, T. (27 September 2016). "Duterte says sorry to Espino, other execs for
linking them to drugs". GMA News. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
5. ^ Gonzales, Yuji Vincent P. (September 8, 2016). "Pangasinan Rep. Espino
suspended for graft over black sand mining". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Retrieved September 9, 2016.
