Belmonte leads LP sweep of 6 House seats in Quezon City

Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr.: LP sweep. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Liberal Party swept all six congressional seats in Quezon City, including two newly created districts.

The city board of canvassers on Tuesday proclaimed three incumbent legislators and three neophytes, all belonging to the administration slate.

The winners included Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. of the fourth district, Winston Castelo of the second district, and Jorge “Bolet” Banal of the third district.

The three incumbents all won a second term in Congress.

The House Speaker got 98,559 votes, trumping Hans Palacios in the fourth district, while Castelo won in the second district over Ismael Mathay III. In the third district, Banal won over former solon Mat Defensor.

The neophytes were Francisco “Boy” Calalay of the first district, Alfred Paolo Vargas of the fifth district and Christopher “Kit” Belmonte of the sixth district.

Calalay got 62,710 votes, winning over Gary Jamile and Rita Crisologo, wife of incumbent congressman Bingbong Crisologo.

In the fifth district, Vargas won with 67,753 votes against former solon Annie Rosa Susano, Dante Liban and Isagani Oro.

Kit Belmonte, a nephew of the Speaker, ran unopposed in the sixth district, getting 80,796 votes.

The elder Belmonte welcomed the Liberal Party’s landslide victory, recalling that the administration slate also pulled off a similar feat in 2010 in Quezon City.

“We hope to introduce more reforms that would benefit more of our people and constituents,” Belmonte said after he was proclaimed Tuesday afternoon.

“First on my list is to review our legislative agenda,” Banal, a former councilor, said after the proclamation.