“This is where I would like to bring up the subject of equity. Economic statistics show that although there has been GDP growth over the past 23 years, the number of families living in poverty has increased - up to about 5 million families or 27.6 million people. This demonstrates that benefits of that growth have accrued to the wealthy. The rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. This is clearly unacceptable to all of us.”

Filipino politician and lawyer

Francis Joseph “Chiz” Guevara Escudero is a Filipino politician and lawyer. He has served as a senator of the Philippines since 2022, after an earlier Senate term from 2007 to 2019, and he was the 31st president of the Senate from 2024 to 2025. A member of the Nationalist People's Coalition, Escudero has been a visible figure in Philippine national politics for many years. He ran for vice president in 2016 as Grace Poe’s running mate, but did not win.