Mayor Joy Belmonte on Tuesday said Quezon City remains the undisputed ‘green lung’ of what he described as an otherwise suffocating metropolis.
In her welcome remarks during the kickoff ceremony of the ASEAN Heritage Parks Forum 2026 at the Seda Vertis in Quezon City, Belmonte lauded the country’s hosting of the international forum.
‘Magandang umaga sa ating lahat. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Quezon City. We are deeply honored that our city was chosen to host this first-ever AHP Forum, held under the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairship,’ she said.
Belmonte said what makes the forum different from the technical conferences that came before it is simple: it puts people first. It recognizes that conservation does not live in laws or boundary lines. It lives in the hands of the communities who guard these forests every day,’ she said.
The Philippines is proud to host 14 of the 64 parks, among the highest of any ASEAN member state, she noted.
‘From Mt. Apo to the Tubbataha Reefs, each site represents a promise our government has made to protect what is irreplaceable. But you may ask: why is a forum on wilderness and protected areas being held here, in the middle of the Philippines’ most populous urban center?’ she asked.
‘Today, Quezon City remains the undisputed green lung of an otherwise suffocating metropolis. And we strive to protect the dream that brought our city to life in the first place. This is why climate action and environmental stewardship are at the core of our Leadership,’ she said.
According to Belmonte, since declaring a Climate Emergency in 2019, Quezon City had dedicated 21% percent of our city’s budget to environmental resilience, setting a firm target of achieving net-zero emissions by the year 2050.
‘Part of this commitment is our One Million Trees initiative. Rooted in our Enhanced Local Climate Change Action Plan, the initiative supports our city’s development
of a comprehensive green corridor network and the implementation of an urban biodiversity strategy,’ she said.
Moreover, Belmonte said the local government prioritizes native species suited to our local soil, climate, and elevation conditions, including edible and fruit-bearing native trees that can contribute to urban food security.
‘We also make sure that our restoration efforts do not introduce new ecological threats.
‘Today, more than 30 percent of Quezon City’s land area consists of green spaces. We have inventoried and planted over 600,000 trees under this program-more than halfway toward our target towards 2030,’ she said.
According to Belmonte, the Quezon City built and rehabilitated over 340 parks and open spaces across the city, including the complete ecological restoration of the city’s former waste disposal facility in Barangay Payatas- which was reborn as a vibrant eco-park and public bike trail, and the protection of the La Mesa Watershed and Ecopark, one of the remaining forest ecosystems in Metro Manila.
Belmonte added that on top of these initiatives, the local government of Quezon City is actively weaving nature into the physical fabric of the metropolis.
‘Under our Drainage Master Plan, we are shifting from single-purpose concrete infrastructure to multi-purpose, nature-integrated systems. For instance, we have constructed a dedicated retention pond at our central park, the Quezon Memorial Circle, which acts as a natural catchment area to recycle stormwater runoff for local park irrigation,’ she bared.
Moreover, she said the Quezon City Hall lagoon will be converted into a sunken garden that doubles as a detention pond and will also serve as a functional space for recreation and assembly, with a large open natural lawn with amphitheater seating.
Belmonte said that none of these nature-based solutions can be sustained without the people who live alongside them.
‘Our urban agriculture network is a testament to this collaborative stewardship. We have established over 1,400 urban farms across Quezon City, securing fresh, accessible food sources while providing sustainable livelihoods for more than 44,000 local urban farmers. To close the organic waste loop, we operate biodigesters across our markets, urban farms, and barangays-processing food waste into clean biogas that our barangays use during climate emergencies,’ she said.
‘Crucially, we believe in giving utmost dignity to those who protect our environment. We have formally employed residents from informal settler communities as ‘resource collectors’-trained in proper waste collection and handling, and leading our cleanup operations across 130 kilometers of our river systems. We see this same transformation at our closed disposal facility in Payatas, which is now home to the country’s first Textile Circularity Hub-with mothers from the community trained and employed as artisans, who weave textile waste into fabric for high-end fashion creations,’ she added.
Belmonte said that to face the monumental task of conserving the region’s invaluable natural heritage, active, protective care across borders is needed, recognizing that what happens to the forests and waters of one country directly impacts the ecological security of the next.