Christopher Sheen Projemo Gonzales (born May 7, 1980) is a Filipino politician. He is a two-term mayor of

Guiuan Guiuan ( �giˌwan; , ), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity of Samar Island and some adjacent islands, surrounded by Leyte Gulf and ...

, leading the recovery efforts of

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...

in Guiuan. He is currently the congressman for

Eastern Samar Eastern Samar ( Waray-Waray: ''Sinirangan Samar''; ), officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan, which is the most populous. Eastern Samar ...

, having been elected in 2025.

Early life

Gonzales was born in

Guiuan, Eastern Samar Guiuan (Help:IPA/Tagalog, �giˌwan; , ), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity ...

, on May 7, 1980.

Mayor of Guiuan (2013–2019)

Gonzales was elected as mayor of Guiuan in 2013. In his tenure,

struck Guiuan. Gonzales led the recovery efforts of the typhoon. Allegedly after the typhoon, the solid waste management of Guiuan did not meet requirements, causing the

Commission on Audit The Commission on Audit (COA; ) is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the primary function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties ...

to score Guiuan. Gonzales ran under the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

for his second term as mayor, winning with 18,024 votes. On February 28, 2019, Gonzales was ordered to be suspended by the

Office of the Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

after he was exposed for irregularly using the fund for Typhoon Haiyan. Gonzales replied by stating that the order was "political harassment".

House of Representatives (from 2025)

Elections

Gonzales ran under the Nacionalista Party in the

2019 Philippine House of Representatives elections The 2019 Philippine House of Representatives elections were the 35th lower house elections in the Philippines. They were held on May 13, 2019, to elect members to the House of Representatives. Candidates were expected to be either for or agains ...

. On May 10, Gonzales was unable to hold a rally in Guiuan because a truck allegedly owned by an opponent parked in the middle of the plaza. Gonzales gained second place in the elections with 86,330 votes. He was beaten by then-

Borongan Borongan, officially the City of Borongan (Waray-waray language, Waray: ''Siyudad han Borongan''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Eastern Sam ...

mayor

Maria Fe Abunda Maria Fe Romerica Abunda (; born November 8, 1957) is a Filipino politician. She is currently a member of the Philippine House of Representatives representing the Eastern Samar's Lone District since 2019. She served as the mayor of Borongan fr ...

. In late 2024, 19 mayors expressed disappointment on Maria Fe Abunda, pushing Gonzales to run for representative. On October 8, 2024, Gonzales filed his certificate of candidacy for representative as an independent candidate. He was endorsed by the

Partido Federal ng Pilipinas The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines, who won in the 2022 election. During the run-up to the 2022 general election, the UniTea ...

, the party of President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

. On April 25, 2025, the

COMELEC COMELEC or Comelec may refer to any of the following: * Commission on Elections (Philippines) The Commission on Elections (), abbreviated as , is one of the three Constitutional Commission#Philippines, constitutional commissions of the Phili ...

accused Gonzales of vote buying. Gonzales won the elections, beating incumbent Maria Fe Abunda. He gained 177,413 votes, 49.34 percent of the votes.

Tenure

Gonzales is set to take office on June 30, 2025.

Personal life

Gonzales is the brother of incumbent Guiuan mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan. He is the son-in-law of

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

Marcelino Libanan Marcelino "Nonoy" Chicano Libanan (born September 20, 1963) is a Filipino lawyer and politician, currently serving as the House Minority Leader in the Philippine House of Representatives. He was formerly the Vice Governor of Eastern Samar and t ...

References

{{Reflist People from Eastern Samar Politicians from Eastern Samar 1980 births Living people Nacionalista Party politicians Independent politicians in the Philippines