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Marie Bernadette " Dette" Guevara Escudero-Quirante (born May 7, 1978) is a Filipino politician who has served as the representative of Sorsogon's 1st district in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2022. She was reelected to the position in 2025. Escudero has also served as the House deputy majority leader since 2025, having previously served as assistant majority leader from 2022 to 2025.
She is a member of the prominent Escudero political family in the Philippines.
Escudero graduated from the University of the East with a degree in business administration.
Escudero was one of the authors of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, a law that condoned about ₱58 billion (almost US$1 billion) in unpaid amortizations and interest for agrarian reform beneficiaries. This law, which was a priority measure of the Bongbong Marcos administration, aims to free thousands of farmers from decades-old land debt and was signed as Republic Act No. 11953 in 2023.
Escudero also co-authored the proposed New Philippine Building Act, a comprehensive update to the 1977 National Building Code aimed at making structures more disaster-resilient. The House approved this measure (House Bill No. 8500) in 2023 in response to the need for safer buildings against earthquakes, , fires, and other hazards.
She introduced a bill known as the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, which aimed to institutionalize a minimum stipend and additional incentives for barangay (village) health workers nationwide. The bill gained bicameral approval in the 19th Congress; however, its ratification was briefly recalled in 2023 due to funding source concerns. Nonetheless, Escudero and her colleagues pledged to refine and refile the proposal.
In addition, Escudero has authored or supported legislation to expand senior citizens' benefits. For example, she filed House Bill No. 7919, titled the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2023, which sought to increase the electricity consumption discount for senior citizens to five percent on the first 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity for qualified senior households and broaden the coverage of seniors eligible for utility discounts.
She had been active in House deliberations on education (sitting in the Committee on Basic Education and Culture) and has advocated for inclusive curricula and parental involvement in schools.
Escudero resides in Sorsogon City.
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