Miro Quimbo seeks House return, Stella Quimbo hints at mayoralty run

Former lawmaker Miro Quimbo on Monday filed his Eleksyon 2025 certificate of candidacy (COC) to run for congressman of Marikina's Second District, a post he occupied from 2010 to 2019.

Quimbo, running as part of ruling party Lakas-CMD, was accompanied by his wife, the district's incumbent representative Stella Quimbo.

One of the spokespersons of the House prosecution panel during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012, Miro Quimbo vowed to push for measures addressing the flooding in Metro Manila, which heavily affects Marikina.

“Our city government is always spending, even securing loans from [state-run] Landbank for dredging of our rivers. Even the President said this is not the solution. Within six to eight months, the area you dredged will be all for nothing. This is the biggest source of corruption,” Miro told reporters.

“The solution does not lie in Marikina. We've done everything we can in Marikina.The solution lies in the upriver cities and towns, including San Mateo and Montalban. Public servants there are of good character, and we just need to bring the attention of the national government on this. We need a leadership that will be able to mobilize the national government to solve flood problems because Marikina cannot afford to be a catch basin for the flood from nearby areas,” he added.

Marikina mayoralty run?

Stella Quimbo, for her part, hinted at a possible run for Marikina mayor. She would be going up against incumbent Marikina First District Representative Maan Teodoro, who also filed her COC on Monday, Teodoro's husband is incumbent Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro.

“Bukas po [niyo malalaman]. Pero siyempre, una sa lahat, dahil baon na po kami sa utang, iyon ang unang kailangan tugunan namin [sa Marikina]. Kailangan ayusin ang finances ng ating LGU. Pero hindi po tayo magtataas ng buwis,” Stella said.

(Tomorrow. But of course, first of all, because we are swamped with debt, that is the first thing we have to work on. We have to fix the LGU's finances. But we would not raise taxes.)

“Just to be clear, kailangan natin palaguin ang mga negosyo [we need to help businesses flourish]. So, it has to be business-friendlier. At sa mas maraming mga negosyo, magkakaroon tayo ng Philippine innovation hub. So hopefully, ang ating vision para sa Marikina ay magiging isang start-up city, at kalusugan, of course. We have a lot of health centers, pero wala naman pong gamot. So napag-iwanan po iyan,” Stella added.

(And with more businesses, we would be able to create a Philippine innovation hub. So hopefully, our vision for Marikina is to become a start-up city, and health, of course. We have a lot of health centers, but no medicines. That has been neglected.)

Ortega, Khonghun

Also on Monday, La Union First District Representative Paolo Ortega V and Zambales First District lawmaker Jay Khonghun filed their own COCs for reelection.

Ortega and Khonghun both said they will focus on fighting for greater allocations in public works infrastructure, education and social services, as well as ensuring a corruption-free government.

“Naniniwala kasi tayo na habang umuunlad ang bansa, dapat itong maramdaman ng ating mamamayan,” Ortega said.

(We believe that the nation’s prosperity should be felt by the people.)

“Bilang isang lider, tungkulin kong pangalagaan ang tiwala ng ating mamamayan. Kasama ng ating pagtugon sa pangangailangan ng ating distrito ay ang pagbabantay sa pagmamalabis sa kaban ng bayan. Wala dapat lugar ang katiwalian sa ating pamahalaan,” Khonghun added.

(As a leader, my mandate is to safeguard the trust given by the voters. Ensuring that the needs of my constituents are attended to also means that I should stay vigilant against those who seek to take public funds for themselves.) — BM, GMA Integrated News