At a young age of 38 years old, Mayor Norman D. Sabdao already has everything he could ask for in terms of his personal dream – to serve the people of his beautiful hometown and to have an opportunity to achieve unprecedented development for San Miguel.

        Sabdao’s father, Estanislao Obado Sabdao and mother, Emmaculada Sadino Dominguez, are farmers. They had lived on subsistence farming near their residence along the Bugnon River in barangay Santol, San Miguel, Leyte.

        Being the second child of a poor family of four prodded the young Sabdao to strive for academic excellence, seeing education as a key for him and his family to rise from the quagmire of poverty. Starting 7 years old he walked to and from the Bahay Elementary School, trudging on to school without food to eat, sometimes having dried fish at best, or on worse days, only oil and soy sauce, or coffee and sugar for his grumbling stomach. For Grades 5 and 6 he transferred to the San Miguel Central School. He spent high school at the San Miguel National High School, an important part of his academic journey wherein he graduated Salutatorian and which opened the doors for him at the hallowed halls of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Tacloban. His intellectual capacity and financial difficulty made him qualified to be a UP scholar wherein the university gave him a monthly assistance of P1,500. His devoted mother would visit him in Tacloban bringing a mother’s love through food and whatever allowance she could give her child.   

        Because of grit, perseverance and hardwork, he earned a degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines. He also graduated in Theology at the South Philippine Adventist College, and earned units in Master in Divinity at the Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies (AIIAS). Not only that, Mayor Sabdao is a graduate of Juris Doctor at the Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation (DVOREF) College of Law.

        Unfortunately, illness befell on his father. Before he passed on, he encouraged his son to enter public service. Thus started his career as an elected official, as in 2013 the people placed their trust in him to be a member of the Municipal Council of San Miguel. He served as councilor until 2019.

        Growing up in a little house along the river, Sabdao could still remember his younger days playing near Bugnon Bridge, pondering about a future of doing good for others, something that was reinforced during his years in UP where love for country and giving back to the people were instilled in the mind of scholars.

        Now, he is the town’s top chief executive. True enough, Sabdao has been giving back to the people by devoting his time in planning and implementing programs for the progress of the Municipality of San Miguel, praying to steer his people into historic heights of development they have never seen before.