QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte confirmed on Tuesday her plan to run for mayor in the local elections of 2019.
In an interview, Belmonte said she expects to be running against Rep. Winston Castelo, who is on his last term in Congress, and former councilor Jesus Manuel Suntay, the current president of the Philippine National Taxi Operators Association.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who lives in the city’s New Manila district, wanted to run for mayor in Quezon City, too but withdrew his plan and will instead run for Congress, she told the Manila Standard.
In 1998, Escudero, at 28, won his first election as the representative of Sorsogon’s First District of Sorsogon and was reelected two more times before becoming a senator in 2007.
Sources said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator Martin Diño, a former village chief in Quezon City, may also join the mayoralty race in 2019.
The vice mayor, however, admitted being a Liberal Party member could be a setback in her political career under the Duterte administration.
According to Belmonte, Mayor Herbert Bautista, who will end his term in 2019, and plans to run for the city’s third legislative district against last-term Councilor Allan Benedict Reyes.
If the shift of federalism is passed, Belmonte said, Bautista would run for governor in Metro Manila.