Representative Joey Sarte Salceda has been voted unopposed to his 1st term as Congressman of the Second Congressional District of the Province of Albay. He is currently the Senior Vice Chairman of the House Committees on Ways and Means, Economic Affairs and Local Government. He is also the Vice Chairman of 2 other committees, namely: House Committee on Appropriations, and House Special Committee on Climate Change.He was a 3-term Governor of Albay, and unopposed in four of six gubernatorial elections. He was also a 3-term Chairman of Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region V having been nominated alone for the position.
Recently, Representative Salceda was elected as Chairperson of the Department of National Defense Multi-Sector Advisory Council (DND MSAC) for the implementation of the Philippine Defense Transformation Roadmap 2028. He was also the Chairperson of the Regional Advisory Committee for Philippine National Police Transformation and Development (RACPTD).
Under his leadership as Governor starting in 2007, the Province of Albay has just been judged by the 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. This year, the Province of Albay was declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve; was awarded with Manuel L. Quezon Achiever’s Award from Department of Health for its implementation of the National Tuberculosis Control Program and for achieving a tuberculosis-free province; and was also awarded with Tourism Star Philippines Award from Department of Tourism for internationally recognized efforts in the growth of its tourism industry.
Congressman Salceda 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 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, 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).
Congressman 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)”; the declarations that 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.
Congressman 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. He has also worked as the Chief of Staff of then Congressman Raul S. Roco, and a Congressional Fellow of Speaker Ramon V. Mitra. He was elected as the Congressman of the Third District of Albay for 3 consecutive terms, 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 the Philippine presidents, and was the Presidential Chief of Staff of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
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 Distinction from Asian Institute of Management and was conferred Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by the Bicol University.