MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:45 p.m.) — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is seeking reelection after filing her certificate of candidacy on Tuesday morning.
Belmonte, who is gunning for a second term to continue the city government's projects as the pandemic persists, filed her COC at a local office of the Commission on Elections with her running mate, Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto.
The two are running under the local Serbisyo ng Bayan Party.
In a statement, Belmonte said she hopes Quezon City residents will entrust her with a fresh term. "With your kind support, we can continue the strong momentum we have gained in terms of programs and projects, particulalry jumpstarting the economy and creating better livelihood opportunities," Belmonte said.
"My other priority includes housing and security of land tenure for our QCitizens, as part of the overall 14-point agenda that our administration has outlined," she added.
Belmonte is the daughter of former House Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. — also a former mayor of the city — and late newspaper publisher Betty Go-Belmonte.
Before she was elected to lead the country’s most populous city in 2019, the younger Belmonte was a three-term vice mayor.
Meanwhile, Sotto is the son of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who has announced his bid for the vice-presidency alongside Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Belmonte is expected to clash with Rep. Mike Defensor (Anakalusugan party-list) for the top post in the city. The lawmaker, who is not a medical professional, is known for pushing for the use of anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment.
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.