Vincent Crisologo

In 1971, he ran for mayor of Vigan in the same party with his mother, who was then the incumbent Ilocos Sur governor. Both of them lost to his paternal cousins Evaristo “Titong” Singson and Luis “Chavit” Singson as the Vigan mayor and the Ilocos Sur governor, respectively.

In 1992, he ran for senator under the ticket of the Nacionalista Party. He did not get one of the 24 seats allotted in the Philippine Senate. He placed 54th in the final election result.

Crisologo first ran as congressman in 1995 in the 1st district of Quezon City against Reynaldo Calalay and Renato Yap. However, he lost in this election to Calalay, who was a beloved figure in the district.

Crisologo served as councilor of Quezon City from the 1st district from 1998 to 2004. He first ran in 1998 and was reelected in 2001. He ran alongside his very close political ally, Congressman Reynaldo Calalay. The two were known to be a great tandem and loved by the people of the first district.

Vincent Crisologo (4th from left) during the October 4, 2012 Declaration of the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City as National Cultural Treasure

Congressman Calalay personally endorsed Crisologo to fill in his slot as the representative of the 1st district before his death in 2003. Crisologo then ran in 2004 and decisively won.

Crisologo was subsequently reelected in 2007 and 2010. He was vice-chairman for the Appropriations, Housing and Urban Development, Information and Communications Technology, Labor and Employment, and Ways and Means Committees of Congress.[5] He was also a member of the following Committees; Metro Manila Development, Millennium Developmental Goals, Public Works and Highways, and Science and Technology.[6]

In 2016, he regained his seat as congressman of the 1st district of Quezon City, defeating then incumbent Congressman Boy Calalay of the Liberal Party in a landslide victory.[7] He was also named as the Deputy Majority Leader in the House of Representatives.[8] He is also the Recognized President of PDP–Laban Quezon City Council.[9]

In October 2017, he was indicted for graft and malversation cases over the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam. He faced two counts of graft, two counts of malversation, and two counts of malversation thru falsification of public documents for anomalous pork barrel projects in 2009. [10]

His co-conspirators from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), namely: Undersecretary Mateo Montaño, Vilma Cabrera, and Pacita Sarino were ordered dismissed from the service with the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and bar from taking civil service examinations. [11]

CrIsologo shrugged off the politically motivated raps. “Crisologo, however, said he could not be charged with graft as he did not get hold of the questioned funds”. [12]

"We did not hold any money, we did not implement any project, we just pinpointed it and there was an implementing agency," he said. [13]

"The reason why there is an implementing agency is because we as congressmen do not have the facilities to implement. We did not hold any money so where's graft and corruption there?" he added. [14]

Crisologo said this act of the Ombudsman to charge public officials is what President Rodrigo Duterte is referring to when he order an investigation into the alleged partiality of the anti-graft office. [15]

"I don't know what's the matter with the ombudsman. But precisely that's what the president is saying. The Ombudsman has overlapped its power by going after all. All congressman I think has been charged," he said. [16]

In 2019, he ran for mayor of Quezon City but lost in a tight race to outgoing Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte by only 103,265 votes, considering that the voter turnout in the 2019 elections for the position of Mayor was 835,695.[17] On May 12, 2019, the day before the midterm elections, he was arrested for alleged vote buying. The police did not find any evidence of money for the alleged vote buying nor did they show evidence that there were people offering to buy or sell their votes. On May 13, he was released by the inquest prosecutor citing that there was no evidence furnished by the police to show that vote buying or selling took place.[18]