By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

IN HIS younger years, Jim Espaldon was considered the wild horse in the family, the prodigal son who restlessly explored the world to learn life outside of his middle-class comfort and away from the rigors of college.
Typical well-off Filipino parents want their children to be in college, but the young Espaldon dismayed his folks by choosing to work as a nightclub disc jockey in the mid-70’s. When he got bored, he went through a whole series of self-reinvention. He went to Hawaii to work as a clerk at ABC convenience store and later became a farmer. When his farm business went nowhere, he wandered around until he heard his calling and decided to go back to college. He eventually finished law school.
Fast forward: Espaldon is now one of the newest members of the 29th Legislature. He is the first senator of Filipino descent since his father, the late Dr. Ernesto Espaldon, ended his seventh term in the Guam Legislature. Dr. Espaldon, a surgeon, who was given state honors for his humanitarian work when he passed away in August last year, was a landmark in Guam’s public service and healthcare landscape.
A political neophyte, Jim Espaldon beat a number of veteran senators and ranked fourth in the November senatorial elections, which he humbly attributed to the combination of “God’s plan,” the strength of the Filipino vote, and a respected surname.
“I probably won the Filipino vote because I embody the dreams of Filipinos—and those from other countries—who emigrated to Guam and made this island their home. My success presents hopes for other immigrants and second generation Americans,” says Espaldon who, at 50, still bears the typical Asian youthfulness.
The sense of humility and simplicity is another virtue that Espaldon says his father had passed on to his children. Espaldon drives a 1991 beat-up Nissan pickup truck, which draws unsolicited advice from friends. “They say, ‘you’re a senator now, you should be driving something high-end.’ People think that every senator is on the reelection mode. If people would vote for me again, I hope they would do so not because of what I drive but because of what I will accomplish,” he says, as he recalls his father driving the same type of beat-up pickup truck while other doctors were driving fancy cars.
Being the son of one of the most respected members of the community, the younger Espaldon has big shoes to fill, and is ready for the challenge. “My father was a very caring man. He didn’t charge people who needed medical services. The community keeps his memories. When he passed away, I think the people extended that kind of sentiment to me,” Espaldon says.
The pressure of being compared to the senior Espaldon is something that the freshman senator admits he has to deal with. “I know people watch me to make sure that I have the moral character that my father had. I think people expect me to have the same level of honesty, integrity, work ethic and commitment to help people. He had an impeccable character, which I try to live up to. I definitely need to continue the same legacy of being a noble man,” he says.
Beyond filling his father’s shoes, Espaldon, chairman of the committee on judiciary, natural resources and cultural affairs, is now faced with the actual work.
“Our real job is to find the people who work in these areas and help them accomplish their mission,” he says. “It’s about talking to people who have been doing their jobs for many years. I’m a newcomer. I don’t think I can just come in and say I’m going to pass this or that bill. I can’t force to lead. As a leader we have to be followers.”
The Legislature, Espaldon says, should not be the center of tyranny. “I have to ask people how I can help them. If I impose my ideas, which may run counter to what they are already doing, then we might defeat the whole purpose of what we are doing. It’s not a dictatorship. We have to trust those people who are doing what’s in the best interest of their mission for the island,” he says.
Espaldon earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Menlo College in Menlo Park, California and went on to finish law at Ohio Northern University College of Law in Ada, Ohio. His pursuit of education came along with his search for “the perfect wife” all over the states. He came home to Guam and met “the one,” Gilda Respicio Eay, who happened to be living in his old neighborhood. They have since been married with two children, Christian James and Victoria.