Rene Espina

He received the endorsement of Macapagal as the official candidate for governor of the Liberal Party on 9 September 1963.[7][8] On 12 November 1963, he defeated incumbent governor Francisco "Kikoy" Remotigue of the Nacionalista Party by over 73,000 votes and was elected Governor of Cebu. Priscillano Almendras was voted Vice Governor and the members of the Provincial Board were Nazario Pacquiao, Salutario Fernandez and Isidro Escario. Espina switched to Nacionalista Party during his campaign for reelection as governor in 1967, and won over Priscillano Almendras of the Liberal Party.[8]

Then President Ferdinand Marcos appointed him as Secretary of the Public Works, Transportation, and Communication on November 1968, serving as both governor and member of the Cabinet. It was during this time that the plans for the Mactan Bridge were initiated,[9] and Espina oversaw the completion of its construction when he became part of the advisers of Marcos after Congress was dissolved on the establishment of martial law in the country in 1972.[10]

He resigned from the Cabinet post to run for the Senate under the Nacionalista Party in September 1969, and he was succeeded by Antonio Syquio. On 11 November 1969,[9] he was voted Senator of the 7th Congress and served from 1970 to 1973.[11] He crafted the country's first anti-drug law, Republic Act 6425 otherwise known as the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972.[8][12]

During the 1978 election for the Iinterim Batasang Pambansa, he was one of the 13 candidates together with Eduardo Gullas, Ramon Durano III, Tito Calderon, Emilio Osmeña and Antonio Cuenco for the Marcos-backed political party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) to represent Region VII.[13] However, none of them were elected and instead, all 13 candidates from the local political party, Pusyon Bisaya that included Natalio Bacalso and which received widespread support, were voted to represent all seats for the region.[14]