Asian Women Mayors News

Women Mayors from Asia

> Arrested Philippine mayor rumoured to be Chinese spy

>Kuala Lumpur's first woman mayor

> Tokyo Governor wins third term

> Women win a record number of mayorships in Turkish elections

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is praised for her environmental initiatives

PHILIPPINES

Filipino Mayor included in Forbes list of leading environmentalists

September 2024: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte was the lone Filipino included in the Forbes list of 50 people who are leading global efforts to combat the climate crisis. The inaugural Forbes Sustainability Leaders recognises entrepreneurs, scientists, funders, policymakers and activists who are leading the charge to combat the climate crisis with real, tangible impact. The list included leaders coming from different industries and disciplines who demonstrate “exceptional ambition, innovation and recent, tangible impact that is both scalable and sustainable.” In recognising Belmonte, Forbes noted the different initiatives she pursued after taking office as Quezon City mayor in 2019.

Among them was the declaration of a climate emergency, the first in the Philippines. “That move allowed Belmonte to allocate 13 per cent of the city’s budget (which has since increased) to climate initiatives to reach its stated goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050,” Forbes said.

“Her initiatives run the gamut: doubling the city’s bike path network to 217 miles, electrifying its free bus service, adding solar panels to public buildings, banning plastic bags and single-use utensils, introducing a ‘trash-to-cashback’ program and creating refilling stations for liquid detergent and other common household products,” it added.

Mayor Belmonte, who was hailed as a United Nations Champion of the Earth for Policy Leadership last year, has identified sustainability, environment protection and climate resilience as among her priority programs. Earlier this year, she joined the sixth UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, where she served as summit rapporteur of cities and regions and represented hundreds of local leaders to discuss their concerns and propositions on issues related to the environment.

Last year, she took part in various global summits on the environment, sustainability and climate action, including the UN Climate Ambition Summit convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York and the International Forum to End Plastic Pollution in Cities organised by the UN Environment Program in Paris.

Belmonte is also part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of mayors taking action against the climate crisis. Quezon City recently hosted the C40 Cities Southeast Asia Regional Academy Global Workshop. Among those who attended was Freetown, Sierra Leone Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, among the Sustainability Leaders identified by Forbes. The business magazine also featured the two mayors in a separate report, where they spoke about their initiatives and discussed the challenges they face as leaders in the developing world.

Among those recognised by Forbes were Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley; Mayors Anne Hidalgo of Paris, France and Michelle Wu of Boston, United States; US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan; UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell and various climate scientists, activists, academics and leaders from the government, private sector and civil society organisations.

“This first class of Sustainability Leaders highlights individuals driving real and lasting impact. We honour them for their vision and stewardship of our planet and to showcase the creative, inspiring solutions they lead from the lab to the boardroom,” said Forbes.

With a population of close to three million, Quezon, part of the Metro Manila conurbation, is the largest Filipino city.

Sources: Forbes, OneNews (Philippines)

PHILIPPINES

Philippine mayor arrested in Indonesia rumoured to be Chinese ‘asset’

September 2024: A disgraced mayor wanted in the Philippines for alleged links to Chinese criminal networks has been arrested in Indonesia after several weeks on the run, According to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, Alice Leal Guo, the Mayor of Bamban, a town 100 kilometres north of Manila, after being identified as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, she fled the country following the rumours as to her true identity.

The country’s Senate investigated allegations against Guo involving claims of illegal gambling activities, money laundering, human trafficking and fraud. The mayor was asked to explain how she amassed millions in assets as a first-time politician within two years of being elected to public office. Rather than addressing the allegation, Guo fled the country, allegedly via a covert network of vans and small boats.

Filipino authorities believe she crossed the sea to Malaysia, then Singapore and Indonesia, where local police caught up with her on Wednesday (4 September 2024)

The Philippines President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, thanked the Indonesian authorities for her arrest and said “Let this serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice. Such is an exercise in futility. The arm of the law is long, and it will reach you.” The mayor’s legal team issued a statement saying, the arrest was a welcome development as she would now have the opportunity to answer the allegations and issues thrown against her.

The US broadcaster CNN reported that Guo’s image as an enthusiastic, young public servant was called into question earlier this year when the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) received separate tip-offs from two workers from Malaysia and Vietnam. They had asked for help to be sent back to their home countries after claiming to have been held against their will in a building in Bamban.

The building was suspected to be a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO), which caters to punters based in China, where gambling is illegal. Until July, POGOs were popular places of employment for tens of thousands of foreign workers. However, when authorities raided the Bamban complex in March, they found more than 800 Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese and other nationals, who claimed to have been working there against their will.

The government-run Philippine News Agency reported police also found ‘love scam’ scripts, firearms and mobile phones allegedly used for scam transactions. Subsequent probes into the complex in Bamban also uncovered alleged links between the mayor and the shady underworld of gambling centres, with some suspected of being vehicles for laundering money.

The suspicion that she was working as an ‘asset’ for Beijing grew among lawmakers, as they cited her evasive answers to questions about her Chinese parentage. Her alleged business ventures with foreigners with criminal records also appeared to raise doubts.

Speculation intensified when the senate probe revealed that her real name was ‘Guo Hua Ping’ based on immigration records from 2005. Later, the National Bureau of Investigation found that her fingerprints matched a Chinese national of the same name.

Sources: CNN, Philippine News Agency, Philippine Bureau of Immigration

MALAYSIA

Kuala Lumpur’s first woman mayor: "Women must no longer be left behind."

August 2024: Kuala Lumpur's first female mayor, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, began her tenure on 15 August 2024 with promises of change, pledging zero tolerance for corruption, a cleaner city and an open-door policy to enhance municipal governance. In a press conference, held only a few hours after her appointment was announced, the Malaysian capital’s new mayor outlined her plans for the city, which will host the annual assembly of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in 2025. Sharif stressed that her priority will be to raise residents' livelihoods and improve their quality of life. “The city must also become more sustainable.” She also said that gender equality was very close to her heart.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the 15th mayor of the city, faces high expectations. A town planner by training – she holds a degree from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology - her career began at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985, where she became mayor.

From 2018 to 2024, Sharif served as executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program, (UN-Habitat) based in Nairobi, Kenya. During her six years with the UN, Sharif was praised for reforming and rejuvenating the UN agency by turning it into an acknowledged leader on urban issues.

She also became known for her people-centred approach. She has said that "it is the people within cities that make them the vibrant places that they are. Young women and men flock to cities not for the infrastructure but for the people and opportunities within that city." Her former colleagues reported that Maimunah Mohd Sharif placed great importance on inclusivity in cities and worked to promote the positions of marginalised individuals and communities, such as women and youth, whom she said are "traditionally left behind in governance, development and participatory processes.”

Sharif is a member of the Geneva-based International Gender Champions, a leadership network launched in 2015 that brings together female and male decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.

She has stated that gender equality and women’s empowerment are issues very close to my heart. “Women and girls are the human face of cities and we must have equal opportunities for all and enjoy a good quality of life".

Mayors of Kuala Lumpur are appointed for three years by the Minister of Federal Territories. This system of appointing the mayor and 15 councillors has been in place since local government elections were suspended in 1970.

JAPAN

Yuriko Koike wins strong mandate for a third term as Tokyo Governor

July 2024: Fending off more than 50 rivals, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has won re-election to a third term on Sunday (7 July 2024). She declared victory as soon as exit polls predicted that she received more than 40 per cent of the vote. Shinji Ishimaru a former mayor of a town in Hiroshima prefecture came second, with Renho, who Japan’s major opposition parties backed.

Yuriko Koike’s victory was welcomed by people close to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. After losing three parliamentary by-elections to the opposition, the country’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) badly needed a victory in Tokyo. In addition to gaining three more parliamentarians, the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) also recently won the governorship of the Shizuoka prefecture. Koike’s victory will help the Prime Minister who has faced calls to step down.

The main issues in the campaign included measures to improve the economy, disaster resilience for Tokyo and low birth numbers. When Japan’s national fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.2 babies per woman last year, Tokyo’s 0.99 rate was the lowest for the country.

Yuriko Koike’s policies focused on providing subsidies for married parents expecting babies and those raising children. Her challengers called for increased support for young people to address their concerns about jobs and financial stability, arguing that would help improve prospects for marrying and having families.

Another focus of attention was a controversial redevelopment of Tokyo’s park area, Jingu Gaien, which the Tokyo Governor approved. She was criticised for reaching her decision without paying enough attention to the development’s environmental impact.

Yuriko Koike was first elected governor of Tokyo in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Before her election to Tokyo City Hall, she served as environment and defence minister in LDP-led administrations.