Joy Belmonte, mayor of Quezon City in the Philippines, is the daughter of renowned newspaper publisher Betty Go-Belmonte and Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, who also served as Quezon City's mayor. Her father’s tenure is a tough act to follow, a nine-year stretch during which Quezon City was voted the most competitive city of Metro Manila, and the elder Belmonte was selected as Most Outstanding Mayor of the Philippines by the Local Government Leadership Awards committee.

But Belmonte has proved that she can carve her path. Twice elected on a platform that focused on women's empowerment, children’s welfare and the provision of care services for abandoned senior citizens, the younger Belmonte has made good on the promise of alleviating the lives of the underprivileged. As part of her shelter project, the government purchased land to provide in-city housing programmes. During the pandemic, the mayor worked tirelessly to help residents of Quezon City, which had one of the highest Covid-19 cases. Along with her exemplary handling of the pandemic, Belmonte launched initiatives supporting local businesses, big and small, to sustain Quezon City’s lead as the country’s most prosperous city.

Belmonte’s performance as mayor and care for her community have not gone unnoticed. She was awarded the Civil Service Commision-National Capital Region (CSC-NCR) Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award during the CSC’s 2023 Search for Outstanding Government Workers. She also received a special diploma from the Buenos Aires city government for her brainchild initiative, GROWQC, which focuses on food security and sustainability through urban agriculture.

With Quezon City being the only city in the Philippines nominated under the Innovative Climate Solutions category in the 2022 C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award, the future of sustainability appears bright for the largest city in NCR. “Let’s continue to show them how truly world-class our city is,” Belmonte said.