01:00.0
This is actually our first political conversation.
01:03.0
Well, I feel honored and privileged.
01:05.0
How is it being mayor?
01:06.0
It's a lot of work, but it can be also very fulfilling.
01:10.0
And in my case, I love public service.
01:13.0
But of course, to get there, dadaan ka muna dun sa political exercise, which I don't like.
01:20.0
Kasi dun yung mga, you know, yung mga masalimot na bahagi ng politika lumalabas sa tuwing eleksyon, diba?
01:27.0
Pero kailangan malagpasan mo yun para maabot mo yung posisyon na pwede ka na maglingkod ng tapat sa taong bayan.
01:33.0
Let's talk about elections.
01:35.0
There was a study that was done about how polarized we are during elections.
01:44.0
In your experience, because you've done many elections in your life, ganun talaga tayo?
01:50.0
Tingin ko hindi ugali ng mga Pilipino yan, no?
01:53.0
Kasi they also follow the leader, e.
01:55.0
Kumbaga, I think, in fact, Filipinos are quite nice.
01:58.0
Okay sila, mayayos sila.
02:00.0
Kaya lang, they also get very possessive dun sa taong sinusuportahan nila.
02:06.0
Kaya kung yung kanilang sinusuportahan politiko, ganun ang ugali, polarizing ang ugali, mahilig manira ng kapwa kandidato halimbawa,
02:15.0
parang napapagaya yung mga supporters niya.
02:18.0
Kaya ang aking laging payo, politika, kailangan huwag kayong mamersonal.
02:23.0
Don't burn bridges, do not say things that you cannot take back.
02:27.0
Kasi pag nakasakit ka na doon sa kapwa, politiko mo, or sa isang taong hindi mo sinusuportahan,
02:34.0
pero nakabitaw ka ng mga sitang masasakit, mahirap na yang bawiin.
02:39.0
Joy, can you actually win elections by being cool, by being nice, by being fair, by being a good adversary?
02:50.0
I think so. Ganun naman ako, e. Hindi naman talaga ako naninira ng tao.
02:54.0
I wanted and I felt that it is my responsibility to bring the electoral process to a higher level.
03:00.0
In fact, this last election, ganun ang tinuro ko sa aking mga naging kasamahan sa Congress, mga konsyal ko,
03:07.0
just do a positive campaign. Focus on your achievements and what you will do for the people.
03:13.0
Because sa totoo lang yung taong bayad, ayaw naman nila marinig yung mga paninirang yan.
03:17.0
They just really want to know, anong gagawin mo para sa amin, para sa ikabubuti ng buhay namin.
03:22.0
Pagdating sa partido, people have been talking about toying around the idea of the two-party system na pinanggalingan natin,
03:30.0
naging multi-party system. I'd like to listen to your take on the party system of our country.
03:35.0
Kami sa local government, ang ginawa namin, we focus on putting up our own local parties.
03:41.0
So actually, I'm not a member of any national party.
03:44.0
You're not affiliated to a national party?
03:46.0
No, I'm not. I have my own local party. It's called the Senbisyo sa Bayan Party, SBP.
03:51.0
At alam ko, halos lahat ng mga mayor na kaklose ko, they also have their own local parties na rin.
03:57.0
Na yun ang dahilan na ayokong makisalin sa isang national party dahil kayo naman ang kailangan sa LGU during election.
04:07.0
Do you have power to say, ang makakapasok sa aming entablado ay ito lamang?
04:12.0
Lahat ng lumapit sa amin na gusto ng pagkakataon ng mga mpanya, pinayagan po namin yan.
04:19.0
Because ako naman, I feel that I do not really decide for the people.
04:23.0
Okay, hypothetical. When a mayor like you, of a great big city like Quezon City, is not politically aligned, for example, with the president,
04:33.0
malaki ba ang tulong ng national government sa LGU, katulad ng Quezon City?
04:38.0
I would imagine it helps kung aligned ka doon sa presidente. I imagine it does help.
04:43.0
But I can only speak from the perspective of, in my current situation as under President Marcos,
04:50.0
and he did not support me in the last elections.
04:53.0
However, after elections were over, yung mga proyekto niya, hindi naman niya pinagkait sa amin.
04:57.0
Madala siyang pumupunta sa Quezon City. Ilang beses na siyang nagpunta dito.
05:01.0
Pag nakikita kami, maayos, maganda. So nakita ko na hindi niya rin pinersonal na hindi kami magkasama noong huling eleksyon.
05:08.0
Describe to us your style of leadership.
05:13.0
My style of leadership? It's very consensual. So I like to ask a lot of opinions.
05:20.0
Anong tingin niyo dito? Anong tingin mo dahan? I bring people together. I like to build teams.
05:27.0
Again, it all boils down to me, as a leader, knowing that I am not the only one that knows.
05:34.0
I might not be the best person to know a certain solution to any problem.
05:38.0
But my talent is that I can bring people together. And I have that gravitas.
05:45.0
Because I am consistent. Consistency is so important.
05:48.0
You are on your second term. As mayor, you have another term.
05:53.0
Kung halimbawa magdi-decision kang tumakbo muli. But ando na ba sa iyong pananaw, sa iyong consciousness
06:02.0
that one day I'm going to go national?
06:04.0
I never thought about it.
06:06.0
Hindi mo pinag-iisipan?
06:07.0
Did you ever think that you were going to be vice mayor, mayor even when your dad, Tito Sunny, was mayor of Quezon City?
06:15.0
Did it occur to you that you were going to get into politics?
06:18.0
Not in the beginning. I am an archaeologist. You know that.
06:23.0
Yes, I know that.
06:24.0
And that is my passion. But I also realized that when I was working as an archaeologist,
06:30.0
it is something not many people felt was important.
06:33.0
And this is nothing to do with my craft. But then sometimes I would have to go to a politician to ask for some help.
06:40.0
Because when you're excavating, it's public property. You need government support.
06:46.0
And I heard no so many times.
06:48.0
And I realized when my father was performing very well as the mayor of Quezon City,
06:53.0
and I had a heart for the people because I had been serving, I was a Jesuit volunteer,
06:58.0
even in high school I was all over the place.
07:01.0
I felt like maybe sometimes it's okay to be in a position of leadership so that you can make decisions that you think are important.
07:10.0
Hindi ka na-pressure?
07:11.0
Hindi ako na-pressure. At hindi rin sya tungkol sa power.
07:13.0
Many people, it's about power. Kaya lahat nalang pakatakbuhin.
07:17.0
No, it wasn't even about that. It was about my dad doing well. He had a lot of political goodwill.
07:22.0
And then I said, say I'm his goodwill if it will help me get into a place wherein I can make good decisions that will benefit the people.
07:30.0
And people who, like me, have an advocacy, hindi puro no yung naririnig just because the mayor doesn't believe in what you're doing.
07:38.0
But they deserve to have a leader that will listen and think, why is that important?
07:43.0
And that was the kind of leader I wanted to be. Somebody that gave importance to what other people felt was important.
07:50.0
And this is who you are today.
07:51.0
And that's who I am today. And that's why that brings me, Kuya Boy, to something very close to your heart, which is the LGBTQIA+.
07:58.0
I remember you were the first one to call me when we passed the SOGI equality ordinance in Quezon City when I was the vice mayor.
08:05.0
You called me and I was so happy you called me. And this is not because I am a member of the community.
08:12.0
It's just because I had heard so many stories from the community about how much they needed to experience equal rights,
08:21.0
that they needed a champion, that they needed to be heard. And that's why I called a summit.
08:27.0
And from that summit, I heard all these stories and I realized, no, we have to pass a SOGI equality ordinance.
08:33.0
At least in my city, the community can feel they belong. And now, it has gone on.
08:39.0
We have the right to care card, which I think is a beautiful program that we launched.
08:46.0
Maraming salamat.
08:47.0
Last Pride, which we'll be doing. And we continue to be consistent also.
08:51.0
Maraming salamat for all that you do for the LGBTQIA community. Thank you for all your love.
09:00.0
This is essentially what an ally is.
09:03.0
I want to go back to the leadership.
09:05.0
As a leader of Quezon City, ang dami mo ng mga achievements na nagawa.
09:11.0
Do you have that sense na pag-alis ko ba, mananatili ito? Or what do I do to safeguard everything that I have done?
09:19.0
Well, in my case, staying, of course, is not an option because yung batas does not allow you.
09:26.0
Pero tingin ko, isa sa mga responsibilidad ng bawat leader is to groom a successor.
09:31.0
So yung slate ko ng mga konsihal at maging yung mga congressmen ko, napakabata, yung iba.
09:36.0
I hope that something of myself rubs off onto them and they will see a different kind of leadership.
09:42.0
Because I am a very different kind of leader dun sa kinagisnaan nila.
09:46.0
They're also children of politicians.
09:49.0
And really, I consider myself a deviant in that regard.
09:54.0
Pero nakikita rin nila ngayon na ito pala yung efekto ng pagka-reformist ni Mayor Joy.
10:01.0
Meron pala siyang nagagawa na marahil hindi nagagawa kung very traditional yung trajectory natin.
10:09.0
Because indeed, some of the things we are doing are very innovative.
10:12.0
In relation to that, of course, we have gained so many things.
10:15.0
We have achieved so much.
10:16.0
Yung Co-Clean Opinion, tatlong taon na since I became mayor.
10:20.0
Three straight years unqualified opinion.
10:22.0
Yung Seal of Good Local Governance, which is the highest award given by the DILG to any local government.
10:27.0
And you're the top-performing mayor of this country.
10:31.0
Hindi mo inilalagay yung doon sa iyong ulo.
10:34.0
I noticed. I was waiting for you to mention that.
10:37.0
Yes, but on record.
10:39.0
I mentioned these awards to show that our performance has been good.
10:44.0
And in all areas, yung mga award namin from environment to governance to economics to innovation,
10:50.0
all the way to the best city jail in the country.
10:53.0
So lahat na bibigyan namin ng pansino.
10:57.0
Having said that, tama ka. Okay, what do you do?
11:01.0
Well, I hope that yung successor na igugurum natin,
11:04.0
amaampon niya yung mga style of leadership na natutunan sa akin.
11:08.0
Because I think nine years is a long time for somebody to pick up good points.
11:12.0
And I don't expect them naman to be clones of myself.
11:15.0
They will also bring in new ideas to the table.
11:18.0
Pero yung basic principles na sana naiset in motion na natin,
11:22.0
naipundan na natin, sana manatili yun.
11:25.0
Tapos yung bagong leader can add more to the table.
11:30.0
Joy, hindi ka napapagod?
11:33.0
Anong ginagawa mo? Because it's a 24-hour day job.
11:37.0
Well, it's not that tiring because I love the work.
11:41.0
I really do. I love it. I love it.
11:47.0
First, I would like to stress that I have a fantastic team.
11:50.0
And that's where my disruptive way of thinking came into being.
11:54.0
A lot of them came from the private sector.
11:56.0
A lot of them are apolitical. They don't understand politics.
11:59.0
Sila ay mga kinuha natin because of their area of expertise.
12:03.0
They may not be the best, but they are the right people
12:06.0
for the kind of vision and the kind of things I want to get done.
12:09.0
And then, alam mo kung bakit kakaiba kami sa Quezon City?
12:12.0
Pag panahon ng election, itong mga technocrats na ito na kinuha ko,
12:15.0
yung team ko, they don't know what's going on sa election.
12:18.0
Sabi ko, it's not your job to know who's running
12:21.0
or what are the issues that are being tackled on the ground.
12:24.0
Your job is just to keep the city running.
12:26.0
Keep serving the people.
12:28.0
And let me do my job, and my job is to win
12:30.0
so that we can continue to do the good things we are doing.
12:32.0
Kaya hindi ka masyadong napapagod dahil, you know,
12:35.0
you have a great team, you delegate,
12:38.0
but you know how to stop.
12:40.0
Yes, may mga boundaries din naman.
12:43.0
Yes, oo, meron naman.
12:45.0
Family, you're a mother, you're a sister, you're a daughter.
12:49.0
You're able to do that.
12:50.0
I'm able to do that.
12:51.0
All of that, it's all covered.
12:53.0
Walang hinanakit ang aking pamilya.
12:56.0
What is the best thing about being a mayor?
13:00.0
The best thing is to be able to change the lives of people.
13:04.0
There can be no other reason.
13:07.0
I think that should be the only reason, and in fact,
13:09.0
kung kayo ay tumatakbo at iba ang iniisip din yung dahilan ng pagtakbo ninyo,
13:13.0
you think again if you should run.
13:15.0
How painful is it when people generally paint politicians,
13:21.0
government servants as,
13:23.0
gusto mo umaman, pumunta ka sa politika?
13:26.0
I'm not saying for you, but somehow, you know,
13:28.0
that generalization, diba?
13:31.0
Kasi may pinagmulan naman talaga, yung ganong klaseng generalization.
13:35.0
May batayan naman siya.
13:36.0
People did not come to the conclusion out of thin air.
13:40.0
There were cases talaga na maraming politiko na umaman dahil nasa pwesto sila.
13:44.0
I cannot blame the people for that.
13:46.0
Now, if they call me that,
13:48.0
kasi, dear Joy, nandiyan ka lang kasi gusto mong umaman,
13:52.0
That's a different story.
13:53.0
Yeah, that's a different story.
13:54.0
Medyo masakit yun because you know you're not there for that particular reason.
13:57.0
But having said that, you know,
13:59.0
I feel that one of the goals of government officials
14:03.0
is to change that stereotype,
14:06.0
that way that people are thinking
14:08.0
by winning back the trust and confidence of people in government.
14:11.0
And that's what we're trying to do.
14:12.0
That's why it was so important for me na
14:14.0
ipagyabang yung three unqualified opinions namin,
14:17.0
ipagyabang lahat ng mga nagawa namin,
14:20.0
projects na bumabalik sa taong bayan.
14:22.0
Because now, really, when you talk to people from Quezon City,
14:24.0
they will say, nararamdaman na namin yung gobyerno.
14:28.0
And it was really a deliberate effort on my part.
14:31.0
Ano mararamdaman ng taong bayan yung gobyerno?
14:33.0
So we really brought the services down,
14:35.0
not just to the district level, to the barangay level.
14:38.0
Kahit nakailangan kami pa yung maghatid ng ayuda
14:41.0
sa isang maliit na tahanan na nangangailangan,
14:45.0
I mean, really, thank you.
14:46.0
Kasi again, susugan ko lang yung sinabi mo,
14:49.0
yung cynicism na yun,
14:52.0
Hindi naman yan nangyari lang
14:54.0
because gusto nila manginis
14:56.0
o gusto nila magduda.
14:57.0
Joy, if the opportunity presents,
15:02.0
that you will be given a chance
15:04.0
to run for the presidency of this country,
15:07.0
I can't answer that question now.
15:12.0
Let me put it this way.
15:13.0
What is the future like for Joy Belmonte?
15:17.0
You know, a lot of it depends on divine intervention.
15:22.0
So, we have seen people that have prepared so hard
15:25.0
for the presidency,
15:26.0
or the vice presidency, or the Senate,
15:28.0
and then some divine act happens,
15:31.0
and it's somebody else.
15:32.0
We've seen that happen.
15:35.0
it's not for me to think about things
15:37.0
that far off into the future.
15:38.0
Basta yung trabaho ko,
15:39.0
maging mayor ng Quezon City,
15:40.0
the best mayor that Quezon City has ever had,
15:42.0
that is my goal and my dream.
15:44.0
Susubukan kong gawin yun.
15:45.0
So, let's just stick with that particular task.
15:48.0
Last night of the world.
15:50.0
Sinong kasama mo?
15:51.0
Anong ginagawa mo?
15:52.0
I suppose, with my son, my father,
15:56.0
and just preparing for the end of the world.
16:00.0
Cleaning our hearts.
16:02.0
Cleansing our hearts.
16:05.0
You were to prepare dinner for five people.
16:10.0
Who would this be and why?
16:14.0
I want to invite Jesus.
16:16.0
Just because I really want to understand
16:22.0
what he meant by all these,
16:24.0
the words that he preached.
16:26.0
Are we getting it correctly?
16:27.0
Are we interpreting them correctly?
16:29.0
Will he love the LGBTQI plus sector?
16:32.0
I would like to ask him that.
16:36.0
this is probably a weird group.
16:38.0
Greta Thunberg, who I love.
16:41.0
Who was just arrested.
16:42.0
Who was just arrested.
16:43.0
But such a strong-willed young girl.
16:45.0
Such an inspiration to leaders like myself
16:48.0
who are so afraid to do the right thing
16:50.0
in our environment.
16:51.0
But she's there, right?
16:52.0
But she's so inspiring.
16:53.0
I will never forget that line,
16:57.0
At the United Nations.
17:00.0
So you have Greta.
17:02.0
Probably, Dikwanyu.
17:05.0
I'd ask him how he did it in Singapore.
17:08.0
Jamaican, marshland.
17:09.0
You go to the museum.
17:10.0
They were worse off than us.
17:12.0
And he transformed the country.
17:15.0
I'd love to hear him talk about it.
17:17.0
I would like to have some crazy people around.
17:25.0
What would you ask him?
17:27.0
What are you thinking?
17:30.0
What do you hope to achieve?
17:33.0
I mean, it's just nice to have a mix.
17:35.0
For conversations.
17:38.0
I would have them.
17:40.0
who else would I have?
17:46.0
I would like to know.
17:49.0
because people are very judgmental
17:51.0
I want to ask the Pope.
17:52.0
What does he think about all this?
17:53.0
What are really the priorities
17:56.0
Is it really to condemn
17:58.0
certain communities?
18:02.0
say that certain types of crimes
18:04.0
are not that bad?
18:06.0
Like killing people
18:08.0
who are already in jail?
18:09.0
Is that acceptable?
18:10.0
I just want to hear from these people
18:12.0
that everyone quotes from.
18:15.0
I can imagine Putin and Lee Kuan Yew
18:17.0
during the conversation.
18:19.0
About running a government.
18:22.0
why do you love this country so much?
18:24.0
Well, it's the country of my birth.
18:27.0
It's the country that was given
18:29.0
by God to me to love.
18:33.0
I think it was Melinda Gates
18:37.0
when you're given a good life,
18:38.0
which I was given,
18:39.0
it's just God's loan to you.
18:45.0
He gave it to you
18:46.0
because there's a return.
18:48.0
And the return is
18:49.0
to serve the country.
18:51.0
Can you write your epitaph?
18:52.0
How would you do it?
19:01.0
You were at the Pearly Gates,
19:03.0
And God is there.
19:06.0
before you come into heaven,
19:10.0
what is the best thing
19:14.0
What would you tell him?
19:16.0
I was humble enough to know
19:17.0
that I know nothing.
19:18.0
And that I was a sponge
19:20.0
and that you gave me the chance
19:22.0
to learn all these things.
19:24.0
A service people.
19:27.0
thank you very much.
19:28.0
Thank you, thank you.
19:31.0
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19:34.0
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19:36.0
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19:39.0
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19:41.0
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19:43.0
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19:45.0
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19:47.0
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19:49.0
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19:52.0
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