QC Vice Mayor Belmonte: Move to PDP-Laban has VP Robredo's blessing

Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte said her move to the ruling party PDP-Laban got the nod not only of relatives who are ranking members of the Liberal Party, but also of LP's interim chair, Vice President Leni Robredo. 

Belmote is the daughter of former House Speaker and incumbent Quezon City Rep. Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. (4th District), LP's vice chair. Her cousin, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte (6th District), sits as the party’s secretary-general.

She was one of the main movers in Robredo's successful campaign in last year's elections.

Belmonte told GMA News Online in a text message that her father and cousin “were consulted [on the move] and gave their blessings.”

Asked if her father will also jump ship to PDP-Laban, the vice mayor said: “No, he won’t.”

“He will retire from politics after this last term. He will retire an LP [member],” Belmonte said.

Belmonte added that she also got blessing from Robredo and Quezon City 3rd district Rep. Bolet Banal, the vice president’s “close-in political consultant” during the campaign.

Robredo had dubbed the vice mayor and Banal among her campaign “lifesavers.”

Belmonte took her oath to enter PDP-Laban on Wednesday night, alongside Quezon City Councilor Gian Sotto. They were sworn in by Senate President Koko Pimentel, the ruling party’s president.

This came hours after five lawmakers from the LP House contingent did the same, taking their oath before Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, PDP-Laban’s secretary-general. 

The vice mayor told GMA News Online that she took her oath as associate member “as early as March 18, after having undergone the required seminar/training.”

She explained that her move is in response to her constituents’ “overwhelming” support for President Rodrigo Duterte, the ruling party’s chairman.

“I believe it is my duty and responsibility as one of the leaders of the city to support the wishes of the people I serve. And it became clear to me that the advocacies of the party and the President—the anti-illegal drugs issue, anti-corruption, and federalism—were principles I myself believed in,” she said. —KBK, GMA News