Emerging Young Leaders of the Philippines

The Philippines is currently witnessing the emergence of young and dynamic leaders. These young leaders are noticeably well educated and full of idealism in their youth.

In a little less than two years, the Philippines will elect a new set of national leaders when the current term of the incumbent President Gloria Arroyo ends in 2010. All indications point to the inevitable contest of young political personalities with their burning desire to transform the Philippines from one of the poorest countries in Asia into a progressive and developed country in this part of the world.

Because of their relative popularity gained from their early exposure in politics, they seem to have some added advantage over their seasoned political rivals who are either in their senior years or have been branded by the electorate as traditional politicians.

A few of these emerging young leaders who have excelled in lawmaking and governance are featured in a series of articles about the emerging young leaders of the Philippines.

Francis (Chiz) Escudero

38 years old

Senator, Republic of the Philippines

Francis Escudero or “Chiz” to family and friends, started in politics as a youthful Congressman of the first district of Sorsogon, a progressive province located south of Manila. The congressional seat was somehow passed on to him by his father, the former Secretary of Agriculture, Salvador Escudero. Though he did campaign very hard to win, it is believed that his father was very instrumental in his election as Congressman of his district. He was 28 years old when he got elected into office in 1998. For more than 10 years, he has continuously climbed up the political ladder capitalizing on his father’s own political clout in the province. His first election to congress marked the beginning of his colorful political career. He was elected as Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the 11th congress and eventually assumed the position of Second Deputy Majority Floor Leader. He later served as the Minority Floor Leader during his last term as congressman.

Congressman Escudero served congress for three consecutive terms ending in 2007 when his last term expired. He then run as an opposition candidate for a seat in the senate that saw him topping the list of winners, second only to Senator Loren Legarda, who ranked first with more than 18 million votes. He is presently the chairman of the justice and ways and means committee.

Senator Escudero is a talented young man. He studied at the University of the Philippines and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. After graduation, he enrolled at the UP College of Law and in 1993 he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He later took the bar examinations and passed. He then enrolled at Georgetown University in USA and graduated with a Masters degree in International and Comparative Law.

After finishing law, he became an Associate of Bautista, Picazzo, Buyco, Tan and Fider Law Offices. Later he acted as consultant for some private entities and non-government organizations. Presently he serves as Partner of the Escudero, Marasigan, Sta. Ana, Valiente and Villareal Law Offices.

Chiz is rumored to be running for President of the Philippines in the 2010 presidential elections. He will be 40 years old by then and if he is elected, he will become youngest president the country will ever have. It would seem that Chiz will satisfy the Constitutional provision of the Philippine constitution which provides that a candidate for Philippine presidency must at least be 40 years old at the time of his election to that office.

Loren Legarda

48 years old

Senator, Republic of the Philippines

Loren Legarda was born on January 28, 1960. She is the daughter of Antonio Cabrera Legarda of Manila and San Pablo City and Bessie Bautista of Manila and Antique. Her Grandfather is Jose Bautista, former Editor of Manila Times. Loren completed her grade school and secondary education at Assumption Convent where she graduated Valedictorian. She later enrolled at the University of the Philippines, took up Broadcast Communications and graduated cum laude.

Loren started her journalism career when she joined RPN Channel 9 as a news reporter. While working, Loren was studying at the same time. She enrolled at the National Defense College of the Philippines where she obtained a Masters Degree in National Security Administration, emerging as the topnotcher of her class. She is a Lt. Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines reserved force.

Loren Legarda’s journalism career reached its peak when she moved to ABS-CBN as news anchor for “The World Tonight”, a nightly news program. She also hosted a TV News Magazine entitled, “The Inside Story”, an investigative weekly newsmagazine series. This program brought Loren to the hinterlands and remote areas of the country.

Loren’s career in broadcast journalism earned for her countless awards including the Benigno Aquino Award for Journalism. Some of the major awards that she received include; the Catholic Mass Media Hall of Fame Award, TOWNS award for excellence in media, among others.

Loren Legarda’s political career started when she joined the 1998 senatorial contest and won convincingly garnering about 15 million votes and becoming the youngest woman senator of the country. Since her election to the Senate, she worked very hard for the enactment of some of the most significant laws of the country. These laws were mostly directed to the preservation of the environment, government procurement reforms, wildlife protection and conservation, trade and domestic concerns. Her track records in lawmaking is remarkable as evidenced by the multifarious bills that she filed, some of which have already been enacted into law. Outside of her lawmaking mandate, she has managed to capitalize on her being a popular media personality in promoting peace among the warring factions of Philippine society.

In the 2004 national election, Loren ran as Vice-President of the Philippines as the running mate of Fernando Poe, Jr. Many believed that she won that election and she, in fact, filed an election protest in the electoral tribunal to validate her claim as the elected Vice-President of the country. Various significant events have overtaken the election protest until the next senatorial election came. And so in 2007, she decided to run again for another term in the senate and won. She in fact emerged as the topnotcher with over 18 million votes.

With Loren’s enviable credential in broadcast journalism, lawmaking and governance, many of her constituents and followers believe that she is destined to embrace a new role in Philippine politics in the very near future. This early, a public opinion poll has been conducted on a nationwide scale and the result indicated that the tandem of Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero is unbeatable if elections were held today. Depending on the political developments between now and 2010, the Loren-Francis team -up (or Francis-Loren?) seems to be a sure bet.