Joy Belmonte-Alimurung: Source of joy

MANILA, Philippines - A person of joy is a beauty forever. Indeed, Joy Belmonte-Alimurung is a beautiful and joyful soul. She sincerely puts the concerns of others before her own needs, before her own comforts.

In Quezon City, she is involved in community organizing, empowering the marginalized sector of the city via the Quezon City Ladies Foundation, which she chairs. The chairwoman of the foundation, she says, should have been the wife of the city mayor “but since my father (Mayor Sonny Belmonte) is a widower and I am the only girl among my siblings (STAR editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte, philstar.com president Kevin Belmonte and STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte). I have taken on the role as chairman since 2001.”

Joy loves to give back to the community. Her heart and mind are always on the look out for underprivileged yet talented children. She brings them to Quezon City Performing Arts, an artistic community which she also heads, and lets the kids learn voice, drama, music among other creative endeavors.    

Her genuine concern for human beings and their development manifested all the more when, after finishing Social Science in Ateneo de Manila, she joined the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines to teach History, Values Education, P.E. and Music to children in Bukidnon in 1991. She stayed there for a year — sans water, sans electricity. Never did she complain.

“I will always value that experience,” Joy says.

Joy’s strength and fortitude are characteristics she learned from her parents. “Dad taught us values like hard work, loyalty and equality. It’s because of his very good example that I am also interested to join politics. Mom (The STAR late founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte) taught me what pure and genuine service is all about. She taught me the value of life and selflessness.”

Joy happily discloses that she really has her adventurous side that stems from her childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist, a detective of sorts. “I love learning about different cultures because I love to have a deeper understanding of humanity.” So, shortly after her stint in Bukidnon, she finished her Master’s in Museum Studies in Leicester University in England. Then she pursued her Master’s in Archaeology at the University of London.

As an archaeologist, she has spearheaded excavation jobs in Intramuros, Cebu, Batanes and Cavite. Her specialization is colonial period archaeology, in particular ceramics. She also taught the subject in UP Diliman for a while. She and her friends also have an archaeological consulting firm that conducts archaeological impact assessment.

Part of Joy’s being adventurous is her love for backpacking. “I like visiting Third World countries,” she says adding that she has done budget traveling in Cambodia, Vietnam, Ecuador among other countries long before they have become tourist destinations. “I have no problems taking buses and trains and staying in hostels when I travel.”

Her sense of adventure is something that she also shares with her husband, Raymond Alimurung. Even their relationship as husband and wife is an adventure. “He finished Medicine but he’s still pursuing his many dreams. He’s now based in Seattle working for amazon.com as a product manager. He’s an OFW.” They got married in 2005 and together they established a life that year in the States. Raymond finished his MBA in Stanford. He stayed in the States. Joy came home. “We click because we’re not co-dependent.” Their love for each other transcends boundaries because they allow each other to pursue their own dreams — even if it means being apart — for their complete actualization.

“Of course, he will not be in the States forever,” Joy quickly banters. “Though, for the rest of this year, he won’t be able to come home because he already used his three-week paternity leave when I gave birth to our son Gael two months ago. But I will surely visit him.”

In the subject of selflessness, Joy is surely at the forefront. “To whom much is given, much is expected,” she concludes.