Rene Espina, governor, senator and builder of the Mactan Bridge

Rene, son of spouses Rafael Espina and Tarcila Gandiongco, was born on December 26, 1929 in Cebu City. A graduate of the University of Southern Philippines, and was admitted to the bar on January 22, 1955 (with a grade of 93.2 %). He was Visayas chairman of the "Ramon Magsaysay for President Movement" in 1956. He was appointed in 1960 as the Youngest Social Security System administrator.

He ran for governor of Cebu in 1963, defeated Francisco "Kikoy" Remotigue, the incumbent governor, with over 73,000 votes. He was called the "Road Building Governor" as during his term he opened road detours in going to the towns and cut distances. His board members were Pablo "Pabling" P. Garcia, Raynaldo "Rening" Mendiola, and Valeriano " Valer" Carillo. He was reelected as governor in the 1967 elections.

He was appointed by President Marcos in November of 1968 as acting Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communication (now separated into two departments, DOTC and DPWH). Secretary Antonio Raquiza however vacated the post only the following year. Espina assumed the position, making him governor and Cabinet member at the same time.

It was when he was Cabinet Secretary that the Mactan Bridge was constructed. The design lobbied by Espina was that the height of the bridge be higher from the water mark to the highest steel girder clearance as the topmost silo of the General Milling Corporation as benchmark.

The height of the Mactan Bridge was based on the idea of Secretary Espina's technical adviser, Capt. Nazario Villamor, then chief of the Harbor Pilot of Cebu, so big ships could pass under the bridge and would not go around.

President Marcos ordered Espina to approve the project with a lower cost with the designed built as what it is now. The cornerstone laying for the Mactan Bridge was attended by Secretary and Cebu Governor Rene Espina and Mandaue Mayor Demetrio Cortes (father of Mayor of Jonas Cortes) with President Ferdinand E. Marcos as guest. When Espina resigned, he was succeeded by Sec. Antonio Syquio and the Mactan Bridge was completed during Sec. David Consunji's term.

When Marcos declared Martial Law and padlocked the Senate, Espina ( who was then a senator) was appointed by Marcos to be part of the so called "Presidential Adviser of Four" (the other members were Perez, Barbero, and Aspiras who were all Ilocanos). The position enabled Espina to monitor the Mactan bridge project up to its accomplishment by sending weekly photographs to Malacañang.

Vicente Ponce was chosen the contractor with agreement to collect toll, but during Martial Law, government assumed the loan, since San Juanico was not exacting or collecting fee and thus ending the collection of toll.

Espina resigned as governor and Cabinet Secretary in September of 1969 elections and was part of the senatorial slate of Marcos Nacionalista Party. Espina was Cebu's leader of the Nacionalista Party being the incumbent governor and now the senatorial candidate. In the election held on November 11, 1969, the result for Cebu: Ferdinand Marcos got 156,091 votes, while Sergio "Serging" Osmeña Jr. (Liberal Party) got 117,283 votes. Serging lost to Marcos in Cebu with 38,808 votes.

Rene married Rufinita "Pining" de Leon Remollo and have the following children: Rene Mari, Jean Franco, and Erik Miguel.