Marianna Escanilla

**Marianna Escanilla Madeira** (née **Escanilla**; born 8 April 1967) is a Hawaiian politician. The daughter of former Socialist Party Leader Alessandra Guinea, she was first elected to the National Assembly of Hawaii in 2015, representing Nā Mea Āpau.

Escanilla was born in Honolulu to a political family. She graduated from Punahou School in 1985, and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Hawaii – Manoa in 1989. She received her master's degree from UHManoa in 1991. After completing her education, Escanilla worked for the Honolulu city and county government, until joining Nā Mea Āpau as a party spokesperson in 2003.

Escanilla's political career began after being included on the Nā Mea Āpau ticket for the 2015 Hawaiian general election. The party ended up winning enough seats in the National Assembly, and Escanilla was elected to parliament. Escanilla received widespread media attention prior to the election, when she alleged that her mother had been abusive throughout her upbringing. These allegations are credited with gravely dismantling Guinea's popularity and the popularity of the Socialist Party.

## Early life and family

Escanilla was born on 8 April 1967 in Honolulu to parents Roberto Escanilla and Alessandra Guinea. At the time of her birth, her father worked as an attorney while her mother was a high school English teacher. Guinea later went on to become an attorney and later began a political career, serving as Minister of Justice and Leader of the Socialist Party. Escanilla is of Filipino origin; her father is Filipino-Hawaiian, while her mother immigrated to Hawaii from the Philippines as a child. She grew up in a devoutly Catholic household in the Diamond Head neighborhood of Honolulu.

In 1977, her parents divorced and her father subsequently moved out of the family home. Escanilla remained with her mother until 1982, when she moved in with her father and stepmother in the Kāhala neighborhood. Escanilla has one younger brother: Robert, born  (1968-10-02) 2 October 1968 (age 55), and two younger paternal half-sisters: Crystal, born  (1985-04-12) 12 April 1985 (age 38), and Isabella, born  (1988-11-29) 29 November 1988 (age 35).

## Education and early career

Escanilla attended private schooling in Honolulu. She began her education in 1973, attending Punahou School, an independent coeducational K–12 school. Escanilla began high school in 1981, where she became known for organizing protests on-campus. She graduated from high school in 1985, and went on to attend University of Hawaii – Manoa, graduating with her bachelor's degree in political science in 1989.

After receiving her bachelor's degree, Escanilla returned to UHManoa to begin graduate school. She received her master's degree in political science in 1991. After completing her education, Escanilla began working for the Honolulu city and county government. She left this position in 2003, joining Nā Mea Āpau as a party spokesperson.

## Political career

### National Assembly

In 2014, Escanilla was invited by Nā Mea Āpau to be included on their ticket for the 2015 Hawaiian general election. The party ultimately won enough seats for Escanilla to be seated, and she became a member of the National Assembly.

## Personal life

Escanilla began dating Hawaiian businessman Karlos Madeira in 1995. They became engaged in 1999, and married the following year. Together, they have three children; their children include Monica, born  (2001-01-24) 24 January 2001 (age 23), Matthew, born  (2003-09-13) 13 September 2003 (age 20), and Michael, born  (2005-06-17) 17 June 2005 (age 18). The family resides in the Kāhala neighborhood of Honolulu. Escanilla speaks fluent Cebuano and Tagalog in addition to her native English. She was raised in a Catholic family, but later abandoned the religion. She now identifies as agnostic.

In 2014, Escanilla revealed in an interview on *Honolulu Today* that her mother Alessandra Guinea had been abusive towards her, her brother, and her father during their time as a family. Escanilla stated that Guinea had frequently threatened her father, Roberto Escanilla, 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.