13/08/2026
We are so proud of you Konsi Dra. Doray Delarmente♥️Congratulations po‼️😍
HON. DOROTHY “DORAY” DELARMENTE, M.D.
A Legislative Record of Foresight, Innovation, Inclusion, and Lasting Public Service
The true measure of an outstanding legislator is not simply the number of laws passed, but the lasting difference those laws make in the lives of people and in the institutions of government.
Throughout her years in the Quezon City Council, Councilor Dorothy “Doray” Delarmente, M.D. has built a legislative record defined by foresight, sustained advocacy, and responsiveness to emerging social challenges. Her landmark ordinances span environmental protection and climate action, mental health, patient rights, equality and inclusion, child protection, and the creative industries.
Many of these measures did more than regulate. They created programs, established rights, built institutions, and introduced policies that continue to shape Quezon City today.
More Than a Decade of Pioneering Environmental Legislation
One of the clearest examples of Councilor Delarmente’s legislative foresight is her sustained advocacy for the reduction of plastic waste.
Long before plastic pollution became a mainstream environmental concern, she was already helping Quezon City develop a progressive framework to address the problem.
Her early legislative work included measures encouraging the use of reusable bags and reducing plastic consumption in government facilities. In 2012, she authored the landmark Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance, SP-2140, S-2012, which established Quezon City’s Plastic Recovery System Fee.
Instead of beginning with an outright prohibition, the ordinance used policy to influence consumer behavior: covered retailers charged a ₱2.00 Plastic Recovery System Fee for every plastic bag distributed, while the proceeds supported environmental and waste-recovery initiatives.
In 2013, Councilor Delarmente further expanded the city’s fight against plastic waste through SP-2202, S-2013, prohibiting polyethylene or plastic advertising and propaganda materials. More than a decade later, Quezon City continues to enforce this measure, including restrictions on plastic campaign materials during elections ... demonstrating the continuing relevance of legislation she championed years earlier.
Her advocacy did not end there.
By 2019, Quezon City was ready to take the next major step. SP-2868, S-2019 built upon and further amended the original 2012 Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance, transitioning the city toward a much stronger prohibition on the distribution of plastic bags.
This was complemented by SP-2876, S-2019, the landmark ordinance prohibiting specified single-use plastics and disposable materials for dine-in purposes in hotels and restaurants.
Quezon City itself has subsequently referred to SP-2868 and SP-2876 as its two landmark ordinances on plastics.
The progression is significant. What began with consumer education and plastic reduction evolved over several legislative terms into stronger restrictions and ultimately a comprehensive policy direction against unnecessary single-use plastics.
Councilor Delarmente’s environmental advocacy then moved from changing behavior to building institutions.
In 2020, she was the main introducer of SP-3009, S-2020, creating the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department (CCESD). The ordinance gave climate action and environmental sustainability a permanent institutional home within the Quezon City Government, with responsibilities encompassing climate-change mitigation and adaptation, environmental sustainability, and long-term climate policy.
Her environmental legislative journey therefore tells a story spanning more than a decade:
Plastic reduction → Plastic recovery → Restrictions on plastic advertising → Plastic bag prohibition → Single-use plastic restrictions → Creation of a permanent climate and environmental sustainability department.
This is not episodic environmental advocacy. It is sustained legislative leadership that helped build an environmental policy framework for an entire city.
Bringing Mental Health to the Center of Public Healthcare
As both a physician and legislator, Councilor Delarmente has also been a strong advocate for recognizing mental health as an essential component of public health.
She was one of the primary authors of SP-3158, S-2022, institutionalizing Quezon City’s comprehensive mental health programs and services.
The ordinance strengthened the city’s framework for mental health promotion, prevention, intervention, treatment, referral, and community-based services. More importantly, it affirmed a fundamental principle: mental healthcare is healthcare, and local government has a responsibility to make such services accessible to its citizens.
The significance of Quezon City’s work in this field eventually received recognition beyond the city, with the Quezon City Council’s mental health legislation being recognized as Asia’s Most Excellent Legislation on Mental Health at the 2024 Asia Pacific Luminare Awards.
Giving Patients the Right to Choose Who Cares for Them
Among Councilor Delarmente’s most innovative and humane legislative achievements is the Right to Care Ordinance ... SP-3221, S-2023, formally titled “An Ordinance Requiring the Recognition of Health Care Proxies by All Health Facilities Within Quezon City.”
Councilor Delarmente is among the ordinance’s introducing councilors.
The measure addresses a reality often overlooked by traditional healthcare systems: the person a patient trusts most may not always be the person legally recognized as next of kin.
Through the ordinance and the pioneering Right to Care Card, Quezon City established a mechanism through which individuals may designate a trusted healthcare proxy.
Its impact is particularly meaningful for LGBTQIA+ couples, unmarried partners, and people whose chosen families may otherwise encounter barriers during medical emergencies.
The ordinance transformed the concepts of patient autonomy, dignity, equality, and compassionate care into an enforceable local policy ... one that becomes most important precisely when a person is at their most vulnerable.
Advancing Equality Through Comprehensive SOGIESC Protection
Councilor Delarmente’s advocacy for human dignity is likewise reflected in her work on Quezon City’s comprehensive anti-discrimination framework.
She is among the introducing councilors of SP2357, S-2014 and its ammendment, SP-3417, S-2025, which provides for a Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Policy on the Basis of S*xual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and S*x Characteristics (SOGIESC) and strengthens Quezon City’s Gender-Fair Ordinance.
The measures recognizes that equality cannot remain merely an aspiration. Government must provide concrete protections against discrimination and ensure that every person can access opportunities, services, and public spaces with dignity regardless of SOGIESC.
Her work in this field also forms part of a broader legislative commitment to gender-inclusive healthcare, reinforcing Quezon City’s position as a local government willing to translate principles of equality into actual public policy and services.
Protecting Children in the Digital Age
Councilor Delarmente has also helped confront one of the most disturbing emerging threats to children: exploitation facilitated by technology.
She was among the introducers of SP-3241, S-2023, Quezon City’s measure addressing Online S*xual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and child sexual abuse or exploitation materials.
The ordinance recognizes that child-protection laws must evolve as rapidly as the technologies that offenders exploit.
By strengthening local mechanisms for prevention, intervention, coordination, reporting, and assistance to victims and survivors, the measure demonstrates another hallmark of Councilor Delarmente’s legislative work: the willingness to address emerging problems before they become even more difficult to confront.
Helping Build Quezon City as a Creative Capital
Councilor Delarmente’s legislative vision extends beyond health, social protection, and the environment.
She is also a primary author of SP-3382, S-2025, creating the Quezon City Screen Commission.
The ordinance institutionalized a city body dedicated to developing and supporting film, television, and the broader screen industries ... facilitating productions, nurturing local talent, attracting investment, generating opportunities, and strengthening Quezon City’s position as the heart of the Philippine screen industry.
The significance of this vision became even clearer when Quezon City was subsequently designated a UNESCO Creative City of Film.
What began as local legislation therefore became part of a broader effort to position Quezon City on the international cultural and creative map.
Legislation That Outlives Political Terms
Taken individually, each of these measures addresses a major public concern.
Taken together, however, they reveal something more important about Councilor Dorothy “Doray” Delarmente’s approach to legislation.
Her environmental measures did not stop with regulating plastic bags; they progressed over more than a decade and ultimately helped institutionalize a permanent city department for climate action and sustainability.
Her medical background translated into legislation recognizing that health includes mental well-being, patient autonomy, dignity, and inclusive access to care.
Her human-rights advocacy helped strengthen protections against discrimination.
Her concern for children extended into the digital space, where new forms of abuse demand new forms of government intervention.
And her support for culture and the creative economy helped build an institutional framework for an industry that now contributes to Quezon City’s national and international identity.
These are not simply ordinances bearing an author’s name.
They are laws that became programs.
Laws that created rights.
Laws that established protections.
Laws that built institutions.
And laws whose impact continues long after their passage.
Why the Recognition Is Deserved
Recognition as one of the Ten Outstanding Legislators – Councilors in the Philippines is ultimately recognition of a body of work.
Councilor Dorothy “Dra. Doray” Delarmente’s legislative record demonstrates continuity, foresight, innovation, inclusivity, and measurable public impact.
From pioneering plastic-reduction policies more than a decade ago, to creating a permanent institutional mechanism for climate action; from strengthening mental healthcare to protecting a patient’s right to choose who may care for them; from defending people against discrimination to protecting children from online exploitation; and from safeguarding public welfare to helping build Quezon City’s creative economy .... her legislation has consistently responded not only to the needs of the present, but also to the challenges of the future.
Her record illustrates what outstanding local legislation should aspire to accomplish:
to anticipate problems before they become crises;
to protect people whose voices might otherwise go unheard;
to turn compassion into enforceable public policy;
to create institutions capable of carrying reforms forward;
and, ultimately, to leave government and the community stronger than they were before.
For these reasons, the recognition of Hon. Dorothy “Dra. Doray” Delarmente, M.D. as the #1 Ten Outstanding Legislators – Councilors in the Philippines... is supported not by a single ordinance or achievement, but by a sustained legislative legacy whose impact can be seen in Quezon City’s environment, healthcare system, social protections, institutions, and creative future.
