Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, the secretary general of the Liberal Party, joined public service in 1992 as vice mayor of Calbayog.
After losing in the 1995 mayoral race in Calbayog, Sarmiento, who has a bachelor of science in commerce degree from the University of San Carlos, became director of the Rural Bank of Calbayog City from 1996 to 2001.
Sarmiento ran again for Calbayog mayor in 2001 and served for nine years before being elected in 2010 as representative of Western Samar鈥檚 first district.
As Calbayog mayor, Sarmiento received several awards and citations, including the Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence in 2006 for making Calbayog a highly performing city, first place in the League of Cities Best Practices Award in 2003, and outstanding Carolinian (Public/Government Service) in 2003.
Sarmiento also worked with various nongovernment organizations such as SOS Children鈥檚 Village and City Net for Asia.鈥�Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives, Concom.ph