Fernando Feliciano "Sonny" Racimo Belmonte Jr., KGCR (born October 2, 1936) is a Filipino politician who served as the 18th speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from January to June 2001 and from 2010 to 2016.
At age 25, Belmonte began his law career after taking the bar examination, which he passed with a score of 85.55 percent.
He became president and General Manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Manila Hotel and chairman of the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines.[when?]
He also represented the government as member of the board of directors of the San Miguel Corporation and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).[when?]
Belmonte gained national prominence as the lead prosecutor in the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada.
Belmonte was a long-standing member of the Lakas–CMD and Lakas–Kampi–CMD parties from his first term in Congress in 1992 until November 2009, where he last held the position of senior vice president for externals.
[5] After serving as mayor of Quezon City, Belmonte made a successful bid for a fourth term in the House of Representatives.
At the opening of the 15th Congress, Belmonte was again elected as speaker of the House, defeating Edcel Lagman of the former ruling party Lakas Kampi CMD, with a vote of 227–29.
In 2018, Belmonte left the Liberal Party, where he served as its vice chairman, as he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term.
[8] Belmonte ended his congressional term on June 30, 2019, and was succeeded by councilor Bong Suntay, who ran under his daughter Joy's ticket.