Joy Belmonte

Maria Josefina Tanya Go Belmonte Alimurung (born March 15, 1970), commonly known as Joy Belmonte, is a Filipino politician currently serving as the 11th Mayor of Quezon City since June 30, 2019. She was previously the Vice Mayor of Quezon City and presiding officer for the 18th Quezon City Council from 2010 to 2019.

In this Philippine name for married women, the birth middle name or maternal family name is Go, the birth surname or paternal family name is Belmonte, and the marital name is Alimurung.
The Honorable

Joy Belmonte Alimurung
Belmonte in 2016
11th Mayor of Quezon City
Assumed office
June 30, 2019
Vice MayorGian Sotto
Preceded byHerbert Bautista
17th Vice Mayor of Quezon City
In office
June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2019
MayorHerbert Bautista
Preceded byHerbert Bautista
Succeeded byGian Sotto
Personal details
Born
Maria Josefina Tanya Go Belmonte

(1970-03-15) March 15, 1970
Quezon City, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Political partyHugpong ng Pagbabago (2017-present)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (2010-2017)
Spouse(s)Raymund Alimurung
Children1
ParentsFeliciano Belmonte
Betty Go-Belmonte
Alma materAteneo de Manila University (BA)
University of Leicester (MMS)
University College London (MA)

Early life and education

Born Maria Josefina Tanya Go Belmonte on March 15, 1970, she is the only daughter of the late journalist Betty Go-Belmonte and former House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who also served as the 9th Mayor of Quezon City.[1] .[2] She has three brothers: Isaac Belmonte, the current head of the editorial board of The Philippine Star, Kevin Belmonte, the vice-chairman of Nuvoland Philippines, and Miguel Belmonte, the current president and CEO of The Philippine Star.

She attended Saint Pedro Poveda College for her grade school and high school education, where she became the first student council chairman of the school.[3] She graduated with a Jose Segovia Award for Service and Gerry Roxas Award.[4]

In 1992, Belmonte graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences.[5] Afterwards, in 1995, she took up her graduate studies in the University of Leicester where she earned her Masters in Museum Studies.[5]

In 1996, she again took up her graduate studies in University College London where she earned her Masters in Archeology.[5] For the duration of her masters program, she focused on studying about Southeast Asia and its culture,[4] which led her to take up an internship in Thailand.[6] She became an archeologist, and eventually ended up teaching the subject in the Philippines.[2]

Political career

2010–2019: Vice Mayor of Quezon City

Her political career began when she was elected as the Vice Mayor of Quezon City on June 30, 2010.[4]

On July 27, 2017, Belmonte made headlines when she was in-charge as acting mayor during a monsoon because she refused to suspend classes early but still did when the students were stranded already. She predicted that "there would be only light rains" based on a bulletin contrary to what happened. Belmonte said she acknowledges her "shortcomings in this situation", and stated that the residents "'deserve a better leader" because of the incident.[7]

On November 6, 2018 the "Batas QC" was launched, spearheaded by Belmonte. This initiative is the first mobile application in the Philippines to feature local ordinances. Its aim is to raise awareness regarding the rules and the corresponding penalties of non-compliance in order to minimize the violations among the people in the city.[8]

In February 2019, Belmonte was accused of graft by Manuel Morato, a former chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Belmonte denied the accusations and filed a libel case against 11 people including Morato.[9][10]

2019–present: Mayor of Quezon City

On February 14, 2018, she announced that she intends to run for the mayoral position of Quezon City in the 2019 General Elections. She had agreed to run under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago with incumbent councilor & actor Gian Sotto as her running mate.[11]

Her platform includes furthering women's rights, the addition of closed-circuit television cameras along the streets, upgrading the systems of documentation, and intensification of the anti-drug campaign.[12][13] This platform was created with the help of 50 experts in multiple fields.[14] Other more concrete points of her platform include child-minding centers; creating homes for abandoned senior citizens; a 24/7 emergency hotline; discounts for solo parents and PWDs.[12] Joy has signed a covenant with women leaders of the Quezon City Community Women Leaders’ Federation.[15] This covenant assured that the points of the Quezon City Community Women Leaders’ Federation ten-point agenda such as specialty clinic for women illnesses and mental health, and livelihood training center for the women entrepreneurs.[15]

She won against her closest rival, then-incumbent 1st District representative Vincent Crisologo, in a large margin and was proclaimed the 11th Mayor of Quezon City.[16]

On her first months in office, she led the operations to clear out any road-blocking vehicles from highways within the city and asked for an extension of the 60-day deadline given by President Rodrigo Duterte to local executive chiefs to "reclaim all public roads". Belmonte said that Quezon City is "too large" for the mandate to be done within the required duration. By September 2019, she ordered to remove Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.'s monument in Quezon Avenue, dismantle stalls inside the Quezon City Memorial Circle and formed the "Task Force 60 Days" and the "Solid-Waste Collection Task Force".[17]

Personal life

Belmonte is the wife of Raymond Alimurung, the first Filipino CEO of Lazada Philippines.[18] They have a son.[19]

In 2010, she was awarded the Gawad Lingkod Masa Award by Gabriela Women's Party due to her work on protecting and helping out distressed women.[20]

On July 8, 2020, Belmonte disclosed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and was an asymptomatic carrier. As a result, her office and other common areas in the Quezon City Hall were closed for disinfection.[21][22]

References
  1. "Star's Betty Go-Belmonte dies". The Manila Standard. 29 January 1994. Retrieved 15 August 2014. https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/05/16/three-remarkable-mothers/
  2. "Joy to the world". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  3. "Joy Belmonte on Sarah, Kris and her Quezon City dreams". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  4. "A working woman for a better country". The Manila Times Online. 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  5. "Quezon City Council - Sangguniang Panlungsod Lungsod Quezon | Ma. Josefina G. Belmonte". quezoncitycouncil.ph. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  6. Oct 26, Real Living Team; 2016. "Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte's Simple But Charming Condo". realliving.com.ph. Retrieved 2019-04-22.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "Quezon City's Joy Belmonte under fire for initially not suspending classes". Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  8. Share; Twitter. "Quezon City launched many 'firsts in PH' in 2018". pna.gov.ph. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  9. "Joy Belmonte files libel case vs Manuel Morato, tabloid execs". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  10. "QC vice mayor files libel charges against Morato". Manila Bulletin News. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  11. ABS-CBN News (2019-04-15), Headstart- QC mayoral candidate Joy Belmonte | ANC, retrieved 2019-04-23
  12. "Belmonte reveals pro-women platform of governance as she signs covenant with fellow leaders". Manila Bulletin News. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  13. "Joy Belmonte: Shun lies, black propaganda". MSN. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  14. "Joy Belmonte gets 50 experts to draft mayoral platform". Politiko Metro Manila. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  15. Chavez, Chito (March 8, 2019). "Belmonte reveals pro-women platform of governance as she signs covenant with fellow leaders". Manila Bulletin.
  16. "Joy Belmonte has massive lead over Crisologo in QC mayoral contest". Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  17. Chavez, Chito. "City gov't starts dismantling stalls inside QC Memorial Circle". news.mb.com.ph. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  18. News, ABS-CBN. "Lazada Philippines names first Filipino CEO". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  19. "Joy Belmonte preparing husband, son from politiko mudslinging". Politiko Metro Manila. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  20. "Gabriela presents Joy with leadership award". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  21. "Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte tests positive for COVID-19". Rappler. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  22. "QC Mayor Belmonte tests positive for coronavirus". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
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