FILE PHOTO: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte. INQUIRER.net photo / Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte will seek reelection in the upcoming 2022 elections.
During an interview with INQside Look, Belmonte said she “still has to do a lot of things” and “wants to do a lot of things” for Quezon City.
“We were sort of set back by the two-year pandemic. Nonetheless, we were still able to accomplish quite a lot given the time that we had and given the challenges that we faced and I feel that I want to continue what I was not able to do for this year,” she said.
Belmonte said her experience in governing the city in the middle of the pandemic puts her in the “best position” to address the problem that may persist in the coming year.
“Even if the pandemic is still there I feel that I’m now in the best position to actually address that problem having had these three years [of] experience. Can you imagine if you have a neophyte running the city, having to learn the ropes all the way from the beginning again,” she said.
“I feel that having myself contracted COVID twice, I don’t think I’m the kind of person that is afraid to face the risks involving the work, we signed up for this risk… This is something naman na buong-buo sa puso ko nung simula pa lang (that is totally in my heart since the beginning),” she added.
Belmonte said her running mate will still be Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto in next year’s poll.