Alessandra Guinea

**Alessandra Nunez Guinea** (born 7 November 1943) is a Hawaiian politician, lawyer, and schoolteacher who served as Minister of Justice from 1995 to 2010, during the tenure of Prime Minister Helen Takahashi. After Takahashi retired from politics, Guinea succeeded her as Leader of the Socialist Party from 2009 until resigning in 2015. She was first elected to the National Assembly in 1980.

Born in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, Guinea immigrated to Hawaii with her family as a four-year-old, settling in Pearl City. After graduating from Pearl City High School in 1962, Guinea attended the University of Hawaii – Manoa and received a degree in English literature in 1966. After graduating, she began working as an English teacher at Sacred Hearts Academy. In 1969, Guinea began University of Hawaii School of Law at night after work, and graduated with a law degree in 1971. Afterwards, she left her job as a teacher and worked as a prosecutor for the City and County of Honolulu until beginning her political career in 1980.

Guinea's political career began after being included on the Socialist Party ticket for the 1980 Hawaiian general election. The party ended up winning enough seats in the National Assembly, and Guinea was elected to parliament. Coming from a low-income family, Guinea established herself as an advocate for the impoverished and lower-class of Hawaii. While serving her third term in 1990, Guinea announced a bid to succeed Daniel Fueller as Leader of the Socialist Party in the leadership election. She went on to place second behind Helen Takahashi. After Takahashi went on to become Prime Minister, she appointed Guinea to the position of Minister of Justice. Being a Minister greatly increased Guinea's national recognition, and she served throughout all of Takahashi's term. After announcing her retirement in 2009, Guinea won a leadership election to succeed her. Guinea led the party in the 2010 election, which saw a loss in majority control of parliament and established Guinea as Leader of the Opposition. They suffered a massive loss in seats in the 2015 election following multiple controversies including Guinea and her daughter, and Guinea later announced her resignation as party leader shortly after the election. She will retire from politics after completing her current term in parliament.

Early in her career, Guinea was theorized as a potential future Prime Minister by political pundits. These predictions dissipated after rumors of a potential rivalry between Guinea and Takahashi emerged in the early-21st-century, and later when Guinea's daughter Marianna Escanilla alleged domestic abuse by Guinea occurred in their home, leading to her divorce. Upon Guinea's resignation as party leader, her approval ratings were at 32% for Socialist Party members and 9% for the general Hawaiian public, making Guinea one of the most unpopular politicians in the National Assembly.

## Early life and family

Guinea was born on 7 November 1943 in Cagayan de Oro to parents Claudio and Rosa Guinea (née *Nunez*). The family was devoutly Catholic and Guinea was raised speaking the Cebuano language. Claudio worked in finance, while Rosa was a housewife. When Guinea was four years old, the family left the Philippines and immigrated to Hawaii for a better life. They settled in Pearl City, where Guinea was raised in a two-bedroom townhouse. After arriving in Hawaii, the family struggled financially. Guinea did not learn English until arriving in Hawaii. Guinea is one of seven children; her siblings include, Ana, born  (1937-07-02) 2 July 1937 (age 86), Manolo (1938–2016), Liza, born  (1941-06-12) 12 June 1941 (age 82), Juan, born  (1945-02-09) 9 February 1945 (age 78), Pearlianne, born  (1950-12-03) 3 December 1950 (age 73), and Elvin (1952–1979). Elvin died of a heroin overdose at age 27.

## Education and early career

Guinea began her education in 1950, attending local public schools in Pearl City. She began high school in 1958 at Pearl City High School, where she excelled academically. Guinea graduated from high school in 1962 as valedictorian, and went on to attend the University of Hawaii – Manoa as an English literature student. She received her bachelor's degree in 1966 and soon began teaching English at Sacred Hearts Academy, an independent Catholic all-girls high school in Honolulu.

In 1969, Guinea enrolled in the University of Hawaii School of Law after she felt a career as a schoolteacher was not for her. She taught at school during the day and then attended law school at night, graduating with her degree in 1971. After graduating, Guinea left her job as a teacher and began working as a prosecutor for the City and County of Honolulu. She left her law career in 1980 in order to begin a career in politics.

## Political career

### National Assembly

In 1979, Guinea was invited by the Socialist Party to be included on their ticket for the 1980 Hawaiian general election. The party ultimately won enough seats for Guinea to be seated, and she became a member of the National Assembly. Coming from a low-income family, Guinea established herself as an advocate for the impoverished and lower-class of Hawaii.

### Minister of Justice

While serving her third term in 1990, Guinea announced a bid to succeed Daniel Fueller as Leader of the Socialist Party in the leadership election. She went on to place second behind Helen Takahashi. After Takahashi went on to become Prime Minister, she appointed Guinea to the position of Minister of Justice. Being a Minister greatly increased Guinea's national recognition, and she served throughout all of Takahashi's term.

### Leader of the Socialist Party

After announcing her retirement in 2009, Guinea won a leadership election to succeed her. Guinea led the party in the 2010 election, which saw a loss in majority control of parliament and established Guinea as Leader of the Opposition. They suffered a massive loss in seats in the 2015 election following multiple controversies including Guinea and her daughter, and Guinea later announced her resignation as party leader shortly after the election.

#### Rivalry with Helen Takahashi

In May 2011, *The Hawaiian Journal* reported that an anonymous source had revealed that there was an "intense rivalry" between Guinea and former Prime Minister Helen Takahashi spanning several decades. The rivalry reportedly first began after they were both elected to parliament in the 1980 election, with Guinea believing that Takahashi was stealing her spotlight in the press and on the parliament floor.

Their rivalry reportedly continued into the subsequent decades. After Takahashi announced her candidacy in the 1990 leadership election, Guinea reportedly announced hers on impulse with the sole purpose of preventing Takahashi from becoming leader. After Takahashi defeated Guinea in the election, Guinea did not personally congratulate Takahashi and instead had one of her aides do it. Takahashi later appointed Guinea as Minister of Justice despite Guinea expressing her interest in being appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Throughout her term as Minister of Justice, Guinea reportedly went against the Prime Minister on numerous proposals simply to disagree with her.

Following the rivalry's reveal, Guinea suffered major loses in polling. Largely due to the massive popularity of Takahashi, Guinea was seen as the villain of the situation and saw her polling numbers fall from 54% approval to 32% approval amongst Socialist Party members. Both Guinea and Takahashi have never publicly commented on the allegations

## Personal life

Guinea met attorney Roberto Escanilla while they were both college students in 1963; Guinea had just begun her sophomore year at the University of Hawaii – Manoa while Escanilla was beginning his second year at the University of Hawaii School of Law. After a year of dating they became engaged, and later married the following year. Guinea and Escanilla had two children together: Marianna, born  (1967-04-08) 8 April 1967 (age 56), and Robert, born  (1968-10-02) 2 October 1968 (age 55). The family resided in the Diamond Head neighborhood of Honolulu. Guinea speaks fluent Cebuano, Tagalog, and Spanish in addition to English. She is a practicing Roman Catholic and a dual citizen of Hawaii and the Philippines. She became a Hawaiian citizen along with the rest of her family in 1956.

In 1976, Escanilla filed for divorce from Guinea, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was later finalized the following year. After divorcing, Guinea remained in the family's Diamond Head home and took primary care of their children. In 1982, Marianna chose to move in with Escanilla and his new wife. Robert followed her shortly afterwards. Guinea and Escanilla shared joint custody of their children.

### Domestic abuse allegations

In 2014, Guinea's daughter Marianna Escanilla revealed in an interview on *Honolulu Today* that Guinea had been abusive towards her, her brother, and her father during their time as a family. Escanilla stated that Guinea had frequently threatened Roberto with physical harm during arguments, sometimes punching him, slapping him, or shoving him, and at one point held him at knifepoint. Guinea was also violent and neglectful with her children, allegedly slapping, punching, and kicking them when they were as young as two years old for doing seemingly insignificant things, such as answering homework questions incorrectly. Escanilla recalled a time when Guinea gave her a black eye when she was 14 years old for wearing lipstick, and later being told by her mother to pretend in school that she had received the black eye from walking into an opening door.

Escanilla alleged that while Guinea was a law student from 1969 to 1971, she often would leave her and her brother (who were both below the age of five) home alone while she was at class or work. At one point, a neighbor had to sneak into their home to care for the crying children. Escanilla's father had been under the impression that Guinea was taking the children to a babysitter.

When confronted with the allegations, Guinea claimed that they were "entirely false" and "a smear job created by [her] ex-husband and his family".