Chiz takes campaign seriously

MANILA, Philippines - He may be topping pre-election surveys, but re-electionist senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero is not taking his campaign for granted.

The 43-year-old senator is also not bothered by the controversy involving his love life, saying his personal relationships never affected his job as public servant.

“I always try to separate these two different worlds. My personal life has nothing to do with my public life, nor does my personal life interfere with my public life,” he said.

“It was always a conscious effort on my part not to mix my personal life with my professional life. But in a democracy like ours, a public figure like me cannot dictate upon the people what they want to say or talk about, including private affairs,” the senator added.

Escudero had been consistently ranked among the top two in surveys since last August. He only dropped to third and fourth places in the March 15-17 Social Weather Stations survey, garnering 48 percent from 62 percent in February, amid the controversy involving him and girlfriend Heart Evangelista and her parents.

A former congressman of the first district of Sorsogon, Escudero said he has been reaching out to as many sectors as he could, and not only during the campaign.

“During my incumbency in the Senate, I always go around the countryside to continue thanking our countrymen for their support,” he said.

He has been identified with two presidents, but Escudero denied that he is a political butterfly.

“When I was in Congress representing our district in Sorsogon, I was with the Nationalist People’s Coalition until I resigned as its member in 2009. I have remained independent since. For me, it is not switching allegiance because my allegiance is constant: it remains with the people I have pledged to serve and not to any one party or individual in particular, which should be the case for all government officials,” he said.

Escudero said he considers his youth as both his strength and weakness.

“I count my age, young as compared with most of my colleagues in both houses of Congress, as both my strength and my weakness. The older ones before my generation have far better experience than we do, and nothing beats practical experience as an edge. However, the youth where I count myself in have the flair for new ideas,” he said.

“The enthusiasm of the youth to connect to new and innovative ideas makes for a good combination with the experience and wisdom of the generation before us,” he added.

Born on October 10, 1969, Escudero is the second of three children of the late agriculture minister and former Sorsogon congressman Salvador Escudero and educator Evelina Guevara.

Escudero finished his primary, high school and law education from the University of the Philippines.

He passed the Bar in 1994 and obtained a masters degree in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington in 1996.

He served as assistant majority floor leader and House minority floor leader.

At the Senate, he chaired the committee on justice and human rights, and passed 281 bills.

As chair of the committee on environment and natural resources, all 300 bills and resolutions filed were acted upon.

Escudero also chaired the joint oversight committees on Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Air Act.

He was among the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 2005. In 2007, he was the only Filipino to be named Asia News Network’s Asia’s Idols.

The World Economic Forum also honored him as one of the world’s Young Global Leaders in 2008.