Amado Espino Jr.

In 2016 National and Local Elections, Espino ran for representative of 5th District of Pangasinan under Aksyon Demokratiko Party and he was able to win on 2016 Elections against his former ally, Carmen "Kimi" Cojuangco, whose seeking her third and last term in Congress. Espino sought for re-election bid for the second time in the recently concluded 2019 Midterm Elections, however, he lost to Ramon Guico III, a last-term Mayor of Binalonan town located in 5th District.

In August 2016, Congressman Amado Espino was identified as one of 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. He later decided to leave his old party and joined PDP–Laban.

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

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.

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."

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.

Amado Totaan Espino Jr. (born June 20, 1948) is a Filipino politician and the former representative of Pangasinan's 5th District in the Philippine House of Representatives. He earlier served as Governor of the province of Pangasinan.

Espino was born on June 20, 1948. He finished his 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. 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.