Former governor, senator Espina dies
Former Cebu governor and senator Jesus Marino “Rene” Gandiongco Espina died of dialysis infections in a private hospital in Cebu City yesterday afternoon. He was 89.
Former Cebu City councilor Erik Espina said his father died in a separate hospital room where his mother has been confined for pneumonia.
Erik said his father was infected and diagnosed with pneumonia which affected his kidney. The elder Espina undergone dialysis three times a week until the condition deteriorated brought about by second infection.
Espina was born on December 26, 1929 and grew up in Tinago, Cebu City or what was then known as the old Pier Area. Espina served as chairman of the Social Security System from 1962 to 1963 under then President Diosdado Macapagal.
He was elected governor of Cebu in November 12, 1963 under the banner of the Liberal Party and served as the province's chief executive while serving at the same time as member of the cabinet of then President Ferdinand Marcos as secretary of the Public Works, Transportation, and Communications.
Espina was instrumental in the construction of the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge. He resigned from the cabinet post to run for the Senate under the Nacionalista Party in September 1969.
On November 11, 1969, he was voted Senator of the 7th Congress and served from 1970 to 1973. The only Cebuano senator who placed number one in Ilocos Region.