After attending a 10-day leadership program in the United States, Mayor Joy Belmonte will apply everything she learned to better serve Quezon City.

Belmonte is part of the July 11 to 21 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in Washington, DC where she is joining other local government officials from around the world.

Participants are nominated and selected annually by the staff of US embassies.

“The learnings that we will gain from this event would certainly be put to good use. We will fully utilize them for the betterment of our city and of our constituents,” Belmonte said in a statement on Tuesday.

The IVLP, sponsored by the US State Department, will engage delegates on strengthening democracy, advancing respect for human rights, and fighting global corruption, among others.

In its website, the US State Department said delegates will have the chance to share ideas with their peers, organizations, and technical specialists in American cities and raise the public profile of democratic innovation at home and abroad.

In her second term as mayor, Belmonte vowed to continue the good governance initiatives especially after the city government was recognized by different national government agencies and received a second straight unqualified opinion from the Commission on Audit for 2020 and 2021.

The unqualified opinion means that the city’s financial statements were prepared in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.

Recently, the city also received the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City award at the 2021 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index summit. (PNA)