Second Congressional District
Province of Albay, Philippines
Representative Joey Sarte Salceda is now serving his 3rd term (this 19thCongress) as Congressman of the Second Congressional District of the Province of Albay. For the 19th Congress, he was again elected as the Chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Vice Chairperson of the House Committees on Agriculture & Food, Banks & Financial Intermediaries, Economic Affairs, and Trade & Industry. Representative Salceda is also a member of 11 other House committees. He is also the Chairperson of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Military & Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Pension System.During the 18th Congress, he was the Co-Chairperson of the Economic Stimulus Response Package (ESRP) Cluster of the Defeat COVID-19 Special Committee.
Representative Salceda is the principal author of the following major laws, signed by the President this year:
• Republic Act No. 12023, or the VAT on Digital Transactions
• Republic Act No. 12019, or the The Loss and Damage Fund Board Act
• Republic Act No. 12001, or the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act
• Republic Act No. 11976, or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act
• Republic Act No. 11659, or the Amendments to the Public Service Act
He is also the principal author of 42 other Republic Acts since he started his 1st term as Congressman last 2016.
His work in the House of Representatives started when he was voted unopposed in his 1st term as Congressman of the Third District of Albayin 1998 (11th Congress). This was followed by two more terms (12th & 13th Congress) or a total of 3 terms (1998-2007) holding key positions such as Chairman of the Committees on Appropriation, Economic Affairs, Oversight and Trade & Industry.
He also served as an economic adviser to various Philippine Presidents, and was the Presidential Chief-of-Staff of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Prior to being elected to Congress, he also worked as the Chief-of-Staff of then Congressman Raul S. Roco and was a Congressional Fellow under Speaker Ramon V. Mitra.
For his efforts as a senior legislator, Salceda has been given various awards andrecognitions. Representative Salceda was awarded by the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) with the Special Grand Tourism Award. He was the First Awardee of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) House of Representatives Exponents of Responsive and Outstanding Engagement in Science and Technology (HEROES) Award. He has also received a Golden Peacock Award from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Phil), Inc. For championing and principally authoring the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Law, Representative Salceda was honored with the CHED Gawad Parangal. As principal proponent of the corporate income tax exemption for the Pag-IBIG Fund, he was awarded the Lingkod Pag-Ibig CEO Award. As a leading partner and advocate for skills development, both in Albay and nationally, he was also given the TESDA Kabalikat National Award.
Before heading to Congress, Representative Salceda was formerly a 3-term Governor of Albay and was unopposed in four of six gubernatorial elections. He was also a 3-term Chairman of Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region V having been solely nominated for the position.
Under his leadership as Governor which started in 2007, the Province of Albay gained various recognitions both in the local and international community. Albay has been named by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as the Best Province in Local Governance, ranking No. 1 among the 80 provinces. Its disaster management body, the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) is a pioneer in Asia, leading the Province of Albay to its Galing Pook Award for Outstanding Governance Program on Disaster Preparedness; and the Gawad Kalasag Hall of Fame Award for Best Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for three consecutive years. In 2016, the Province of Albay was declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve; was awarded with Manuel L. Quezon Achiever’s Award from the Department of Health (DOH) for its implementation of the National Tuberculosis Control Program and for achieving the status of a tuberculosis-free province; and was also awarded with Tourism Star Philippines Award from the Department of Tourism (DOT) for his efforts in the growth of its tourism industry that is recognized globally.
Representative Salceda understands the impacts of climate change and has been active in ensuring that legal frameworks are properly laid to minimize its risks. He has been a member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the finance arm of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). He was elected its Co-Chairperson (for Developing Countries) – the first Asian to chair the GCF – which was established by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in December 2011. It is intended to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. He was also acknowledged as the First Senior Global Champion on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR).
In addition, Representative Salceda also pioneered the establishment of the Climate Change Academy – the first in the country. He is recognized as the “Green Economist” and the father of the “Albay and Manila Declarations on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)”. Both declarations paved the way for the enactment of the Republic Act 9723 (The Climate Change Act of 2009) and Republic Act 10121 (The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act). These laws established disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation as both a national and local priority for building community resilience to climate change impacts and disasters.
Representative Salceda has worked with Swiss Bank Corporation Warburg and ING Barings, and was named the best analyst (and the best paid as well) in the 90’s.
A native of Polangui, Albay, he was born in 1961. He is a graduate of Bachelor of Science major in Management Engineering, Cum Laude at the Ateneo De Manila University. He earned his Masters Degree in Business Management with a Distinction from Asian Institute of Management and was conferred Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by the Bicol University.