Belmonte marks 74th birthday with feeding program

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. celebrated his 74th birthday yesterday with a feeding program for the poor in at least six barangays in the city.

The feeding program was sponsored by The Philippine STAR through its social service arm, Operation Damayan, led by STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte.

Service partners of The STAR include the St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC), the San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Petron Corp. and Purefoods Corp.

Earlier, Belmonte and The STAR Group held a medical mission in Barangay Tatalon, sponsored by SLMC and SMC.

Speaking before a crowd of more than 1,000 persons, mostly women and children, Belmonte took the opportunity to thank the people for their continued support. He said that whatever progress the city has reached would not have happened without them supporting his leadership.

“I thank God first because I am still standing, jumping here. I thank the Lord for the good health. Secondly, I thank you for giving another chance to serve you again,” he said.

Belmonte gave tribute to “the real speaker of the house” and love of his life, his late wife and founder of The STAR, Betty Go-Belmonte.

Noting the large number of children before him, Belmonte told the crowd to give birth control a chance.

Belmonte admitted he “failed 100 percent” in his own family planning but said this was redeemed by the successes of his children in their own fields of endeavor.

Belmonte said he and his wife planned to have only two children but ended up with three boys – Isaac, Kevin and Miguel – and one girl.

He said his daughter, Joy, now Quezon City vice mayor, came around seven years after Miguel and was “an accident.” He twitted the audience for having so many “accidents” themselves, to their amusement.

“Let’s remember to keep ourselves healthy. Plan your families so that may live more comfortably,” Belmonte said.