Gerardo Espina Sr.
Gerardo Sabinay Espina Sr. 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.
Career
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.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 under the Nationalist People's Coalition.
He was also the mayor of Naval, Biliran from 2004 to 2007.