Damian Mercado

Damian Gaviola Mercado is a Filipino politician from the province of Southern Leyte in the Philippines. He currently serves as the Governor of Southern Leyte since 2016 and previously from 2007 to 2013. He also served as representative of the province from 2013 to 2016 and Mayor of Maasin from 1998 to 2007.
On August 10, 2017, Mercado was dismissed and preventively suspended as governor by the Ombudsman of the Philippines for alleged misconduct related to a 2007 vehicle procurement during his term as Maasin mayor. However, his suspension was overturned by the Court of Appeals in May 22, 2018, reinstating him as governor by the Department of the Interior and Local Government on October 31, 2018. Under Philippine law, preventive suspension doesn’t interrupt an official’s term, so Mercado remained eligible to seek re-election as governor in 2025, which he won.