Chiz Escudero: Heart and I didn’t spend beyond our means for Balesin wedding

By: 10 years ago

Senator Chiz Escudero and Heart Evangelista share a light moment during their wedding ceremony. Screengrab from Bob Nicolas’ video of the wedding.

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero broke his silence on Thursday on his reported lavish wedding with actress Heart Evangelista, saying they did not spend beyond what they could afford.

“Ginastos namin ‘yung kaya lang namin at sa totoo lang, hindi pa binabayaran ‘yun. Hindi pa kami nabi-bill,” Escudero told reporters, referring to their Balesin wedding last February 15.

The senator was reacting to a Rappler story posted on February 22 titled: “How can a 2nd ‘poorest’ senator afford a Balesin wedding?”

While he confirmed that some of their expenses were shouldered by his wife’s network, GMA7, Escudero said it was not for him to disclose the particulars.

“Nasa sa kanila kung gusto nilang sabihin ‘yun pero gaya ng sinabi ko, ginastos namin kung ano ‘yung kaya at kaya naming gawin. Hindi kami gumatos ng sobra sa hindi namin kaya,” he stressed.

(It’s up to them if they want to say that, but as I said, we only spent up to what we could afford. We didn’t spend beyond our means.)

He also refused to say how much they spent for their wedding.

“Ang sama naman sa panlasa na magsasabi ng mga gastusin kaugnay sa bagay na ‘yun. Basta gaya ng sinabi ko, ginastos namin kung ano ang nararapat at maraming tumulong kaugnay nun partikular dahil sa larangan ng showbiz y’ung napanagaswa ko kaya maraming sponsors…” said the senator.

(Revealing our expenses leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Like I said, we only spent based on how much we could afford, and many people helped us mainly because my wife came from showbiz that’s why we had several sponsors.)

Asked if he was affected by the article, Escudero quickly said no, but added, “Nakakalungkot lang na maligayang okasyon ‘pag-iisipan pa nila ng masama at malisya.

“Sa tinagal-tagal ko sa gobyerno sa tototo lang, ito ang unang pagkakataon na nagkaroon ng ganyang pagdududa,” he further said.

(It’s just sad tfor them to put malice on a happy occasion like that. In my years in the government, this is the first time that I have been questioned that way.) MA