Edgardo Zarain Sison, commonly known as UMPEK, was elected Municipal Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Montalban, Province of Rizal on the recent May 9, 2022 national and local elections. He was born on October 11, 1972 in Barangay San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal. His biological parents are Mr. Alberto Sison Sr. and Mrs. Violeta Zarain-Sison, who both originated from the Province of Aklan. They settled in this town in the year 1960’s and bore seven children where Umpek was the fourth child among the siblings. The Vice-Mayor met and eventually married his lovely wife, Corazon Cordero-Sison, on October 31, 1992 and they have two children by the names of Edzon C. Sison and Jailet Jhen C. Sison. Their early married life was just so simple and they were living just within their means. Umpek, as he was fondly called until today, finished his elementary grade school at San Rafael Elementary School in 1986 and then went to Roosevelt Memorial High School where he graduated in 1990 through the benevolence of the Most Holy Rosary Credit Cooperative which granted him a scholarship slot in recognition of his bright mind and the strong will to pursue higher education. Though life at that time was full of difficulties, he nevertheless pursued and was successful to be admitted as a US Navy Trainee in St. Benedict US Navy Training Center. In his young age, he made use of his skills and talent in making a living and earned for him moderate sums of money which he unselfishly shared with his mother to help his family tide over their daily needs. And part of his earnings, he used for his dream of pursuing his education. By the year 2017, he initially started to operate a simple Trucking Business with only a single truck to start with. For his penchant to learn the ropes of the business, he was eventually able to establish a larger fleet of trucks and as the years go by, by sheer self determination and the grace of God, he can now be compared with the other big trucking businessmen in the municipality. It was in the year 2007 that he decided to throw his hat in the political arena, first in the barangay level. Running as an independent candidate for Barangay Kagawad in Barangay San Rafael, he was able to snatch the topmost spot in the winning circle of the race garnering the greatest number of votes though he was then a neophyte politician in the eyes of many. The following year, in 2008, the then incumbent Barangay Chairman Zaldy Cruz accidentally lost his life. Although the demise of the former Barangay Chairman was unfortunate and untimely, the political career of then Kagawad Edgardo “Umpek” Sison took a big turn. By operation of the succession rule, the former Kagawad Umpek suddenly and unexpectedly became the Barangay Chairman of San Rafael. He steered the governance of the barangay to its greatest extent that endeared him to the people of Barangay San Rafael. This being so, he so handily won the seat of the Barangay Chairman in the election held in 2010. And he remained in that office, winning election after election, until the year 2019, his last term of office and no longer eligible to run again as Barangay Chairman. That being the case, he then trained his eyes towards the 2019 local election and decided to join the race for Municipal Councilor. He filed his Certificate of Candidacy for that position as an independent candidate once again. Thereafter, the election result showed that he ranked second in the winning candidates for Municipal Councilor. This is another milestone to his political career. But the biggest of them all is when he won the Vice-Mayoralty race in the recent May 9, 2022 local election. The name UMPEK has now become the by-word of many citizens of the Municipality of Montalban, Rizal. Edgardo Z. Sison or Umpek is equivalent to Equal Services. ‘Pantay-pantay na Serbisyo para sa lahat’ in local parlance.