Francis Joseph "Chiz" Guevara Escudero (, born October 10, 1969) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who has served as a senator of the Philippines since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Nationalist People's Coalition, he served as the 31st president of the Senate of the Philippines from 2024 to 2025. He unsuccessfully ran for vice president of the Philippines in the 2016 elections as the running mate of Grace Poe.
Born to a political family based in Sorsogon, Escudero was educated at the University of the Philippines. He entered politics in 1998 after being elected as the representative for Sorsogon's first district, a seat he would hold until 2007. During his tenure, he served as the spokesperson for the unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign of Fernando Poe Jr. In the aftermath of the ensuing Hello Garci scandal, he supported the efforts to impeach President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Escudero was elected to the Senate in the 2007 election. As a senator, he was cited as a possible presidential candidate in the 2010 election. After declining a run for higher office, he endorsed the split-ticket "NoyBi" tandem, which would win the election. In 2016, he ran for vice president and lost to Leni Robredo. He was reelected to the Senate in the 2013 election, leaving office in 2019. He then served as the 23rd governor of Sorsogon from 2019 to 2022.
Escudero returned to the upper chamber after being elected in the 2022 election. In 2024, he was elected to the Senate presidency after a successful effort to oust his predecessor Juan Miguel Zubiri from the office. His leadership of the Senate was marked by his handling of the impeachment of Sara Duterte, which received a mixed reception. In September 2025, he was ousted as president of the Senate of the Philippines, and replaced by Senator Tito Sotto, amid corruption allegations surrounding government flood control projects.
Escudero denied Bernardo's allegations, calling them "malicious allegations and innuendos" and saying that Bernardo had admitted he had no direct contact with him regarding the alleged transactions.
In April 2026, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that his office was preparing possible plunder charges against Escudero and former House speaker Martin Romualdez in connection with the flood control scandal. Escudero and Romualdez denied involvement in anomalous flood control projects. In May 2026, Senator Panfilo Lacson sought a preliminary investigation of Escudero, Romualdez and other officials in relation to the flood control probe.
Early life Francis Joseph Guevara Escudero was born on October 10, 1969, in Manila, the second of three children of Salvador "Sonny" Escudero III and Evelina B. Guevara-Escudero. Salvador was the director of University of the Philippines Veterinary Hospital at the time of Francis's birth and would later serve as Minister of Agriculture and Food during the Marcos era, and representative of Sorsogon's first district twice. Evelina also served as representative of the district.Abuyuan, Gina. "More than This." HIPP Magazine. June 2009: p. 44. His younger sister Dette has been the representative of the same district since 2022. Escudero's grandfather, Salvador Escudero Jr., was mayor of Casiguran, Sorsogon, and a member of the Sorsogon Provincial Board. Escudero's grand-grandfather, Salvador "Gurang" Escudero Sr., a Spanish Mestizo, entered politics in 1912 as councilor of Casiguran and went on to become mayor, provincial board member, and governor of Sorsogon. When the Japanese occupation broke out in 1942, he led one of the three guerilla units of the province.
Education Escudero was educated at the University of the Philippines (UP). He attended the University of the Philippines Integrated School for elementary (1981) and high school (1985). He then earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of the Philippines Diliman (1989) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines College of Law (1993).Lopez, Tony (editor). "Cover Story: Say Chiz." BizNews Asia. June 11–18, 2007: p. 20.
At UP, Escudero joined the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity and was a member of its debating team, which was the 1991 UP Open Debate Champion.Aguila, Kap Maceda. "The Substance of Chiz." People Asia. June 2006: p. 48. A consistent honor student, Escudero was a member of the Order of the Purple Feather or the UP Law Honor Society (1989-1993). He became the Secretary General of the Association of Law Students of the Philippines on his senior year at law school (1992-1993).Lopez, Tony (editor). "Cover Story: Say Chiz." BizNews Asia. June 11–18, 2007: p. 21.
Early career Escudero's involvement in politics started in the 1980s as an organizer for the local campaign of his father.Gutierrez, Terrie V. "Brand New Heavies." Manual. October 2005: p. 63. He first expressed interest in running for public office as municipal councilor of Sorsogon when he was 22. At 25, he again indicated his intention to run, this time as mayor of the municipality. However, on both occasions, his family forbade him from entering politics and insisted that he finish his law studies before embarking on a political career.
Before becoming a lawyer, Escudero was a teaching assistant at the UP Department of Political Science (1988–1989). In 1989, he became a Junior Political Analyst of the Batangas Development Planning office.
After he received his law degree, Escudero joined the Bautista, Picazo, Buyco, Tan and Fider Law Office in 1993 as junior associate. A year later, he became a legal consultant of the UNLAD Ship Management and Manning Corp. and legal counsel of the Crusade Against Violence (CAV). By 1995, he was a partner at his own firm, the Escudero, Marasigan, Sta. Ana, Vallente and Villareal Law Office (EMSAVIL Law). He remains with the firm to this day.
In 1996, Escudero received his master's degree in International and Comparative Law at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Aside from pursuing his law practice, Escudero was senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Law (1996-1998). He also taught at the graduate school of the Ateneo de Manila University in 2000.Gutierrez, Terrie V. "Brand New Heavies." Manual. October 2005: p. 53.
On July 3, 2000, Escudero was named a Commander of the Philippine Navy Reserve Command.
While serving as a lawmaker, Escudero also dabbled in media. From May to August 2000, he hosted "Ngayon na Pinoy", a TV program on RPN. He also anchored the radio programs "Magandang Umaga Bayan" on the Angel Radio, DZAR 1026 AM; and "Usapang de Campanilla" and "Usapang Legal", both on DZMM.
Escudero also penned a column, "Usapang Legal ni Chiz Escudero" (later renamed "Say Chiz") in two tabloids: Abante and Abante Tonite.
House of Representatives (1998–2007)
Escudero was 28 when he began his political career. He was elected representative of the first district of Sorsogon in 1998 and was one of the youngest lawmakers in the 11th Congress. Escudero was a member of the Nationalist People's Coalition, the second biggest political party in the Philippines that time, from 1998 to 2009.
He was elected Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the 11th Congress from June 1998 to November 2000 and became Second Deputy Majority Floor Leader from November 2000 to January 2001. He was Assistant Deputy Majority of the 11th Congress from January to June 2001. In his last term as member of the House of Representatives, he served as Minority Floor Leader from 2004 to 2007. While in Congress, Escudero pushed for the cityhood of Sorsogon. On August 16, 2000, Republic Act 8806 was passed, merging the municipalities of Sorsogon and Bacon into a component city of Sorsogon province. The law was ratified during a plebiscite on December 16, 2000, and Sorsogon functioned as a city on June 30, 2001, with the assumption into office of its first officials.
In 2004, Escudero figured prominently in the Philippine presidential elections as the campaign spokesperson of presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., a popular movie actor. Poe eventually lost to the incumbent president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a highly contested electoral exercise. When evidence of alleged electoral fraud surfaced, Escudero was among the lawmakers who moved for the impeachment of then President Arroyo. However, the President's allies in Congress voted to drop the impeachment complaint. On September 6, 2005, Escudero voted no on the dropping of impeachment complaints against President Arroyo. He explained, "It is the truth that has lost. But the search for the truth does not end today. The president and her allies will always be haunted by questions." A new impeachment case was filed on 2006 and Escudero maintained his vote against its dismissal. Despite another round of defeat, Escudero said the results "will not change the fact that there was cheating, lying, anomalies and stealing in government."
Escudero belonged to the anti-charter change bloc who voted against the constitutional reform initiatives of then-House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. He believed these attempts to change the Constitution are nothing but last ditch efforts to keep the president and his allies in power.
Escudero was a member of a group of NGO-legislators proposing an alternative national budget called "Imperatives of Real and Equitable Growth: An Alternative Proposal for Financing the Millennium Development Goals in the 2007 Budget". This is in response to the proposed national budget of the administration for not being perceptive to the social development needs of the Philippines.
Senate (2007–2019)
On January 30, 2007, Escudero filed his candidacy for the Senate of the Philippines, becoming the first opposition lawmaker to do so. He was elected to the Senate with the second highest tally of votes, slightly behind Loren Legarda.
In the 14th Congress of the Philippines, Escudero chaired the Senate Committees on Justice and Human Rights; Ways and Means; and National Defense. In the 15th Congress, he headed the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. He also led the Joint Oversight Committees on Ecological Solid Waste Management and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Clean Air Act.
On October 29, 2009, Escudero announced his resignation from the Nationalist People's Coalition and became an independent. Escudero was expected to run for the presidency but he did not. Instead, he endorsed the team-up of Senator Benigno Aquino III and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, which became dubbed as "NoyBi". The two political figures, who belong to opposing camps, won as President and Vice President, respectively.
On October 2, 2012, Escudero filed for reelection. Prior to the official campaign period, Escudero, Legarda, and Grace Poe were expected to run as common candidates of both the administration and opposition slates. However, the opposition group United Nationalist Alliance junked the three Senate bets. Escudero remained independent but ran as part of the administration-backed coalition Team PNoy. Garnering 17,502,358 votes out of 40,214,324 registered voters who actually voted, he won another term as senator.
During the initial announcement of Senate chairmanships in the 16th Congress, Escudero got the Education Committee but ended up as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee. Majority Floor Leader Alan Cayetano explained, "Because there was no decision yet on who will be the chairperson of the Committee on Finance, and since it’s one of the biggest committees or one with the largest jurisdiction, traditionally the chairman of the Committee on Finance would not have any other committee. So Senator Escudero graciously gave up the chairmanship of the committee on education because he took over the Committee on Finance."
2016 vice presidential bid