Ma. Josefina “Joy” Belmonte is the first elected woman Mayor of Quezon City. She is also the Executive Vice President of the League of Cities of the Philippines.

She was awarded as one of the Top Ten Outstanding Mayors of the Philippines by the Gawad Filipino Awards. Prior to this, she served as the Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer of the Quezon City Council from 2010 to 2019 where she was also awarded as Most Outstanding Vice Mayor by the Gawad Sulo ng Bayan, and two-time Most Outstanding City Council in the Philippines under her leadership.

For the first time in history, the Quezon City Government earned an “unqualified opinion”, the highest audit opinion from the Commission on Audit for the 2020 and 2021 annual report. In addition, she also received various awards such as the Seal of Good Local Governance from the Department of Interior and Local Government, Best in Dangerous Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program from the Department of Health, First Place in Overall Competitiveness and the First Hall of Fame Award from the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Gawad Kalasag Award for Most Outstanding Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Highly Urbanized City Category from the Office of Civil Defense among others.

Her advocacies cover a wide spectrum but are especially focused on the protection and rights of women and children, gender fairness, economic empowerment of women, mental health, culture, and the arts.