Amado Espino Jr.

Career History

Being a graduate of PMA, Amado Espino Jr. 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.

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 recent political killings of San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello and San Manuel Vice Mayor Bonie Apilado.

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.

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."

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.

Jueteng is an illegal numbers game in the Philippines.

Allegation of drug trafficking

In August 2016, Congressman Amado Espino was identified as one 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. 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.

Black sand mining

On September 8, 2016, the Sandiganbayan ordered Espino, the 90-day suspension as Congressman of Pangasinan due to alleged black sand mining in the province.

Early life

Amado Totaan Espino Jr. was born on June 20, 1948 in Bautista, Pangasinan. He finished his elementary education at Bautista Central School in 1960 and 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. However, 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.