Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz (born October 31, 1956) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

politician who currently serves as City Councilor of Mandaue since 2019.

Life

Soon-Ruiz was born on October 31, 1956 in

Mandaue Mandaue (), officially the City of Mandaue ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Mandaue; fil, Lungsod ng Mandaue), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 364,116 ...

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

, where she still resides to this day. She took up medicine, graduated from the

University of the Visayas The University of the Visayas (UV) is a private institution located in Cebu City, Philippines. It is the first school in the province of Cebu to attain university status. History Vicente Gullas (1898–1970) founded the University of the Visay ...

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

Career

Prior to her political career, Soon-Ruiz is a physician by profession, qualifying in 1991. She ran and won as a member of the

House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish language, Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house ...

, representing the Sixth District of Cebu from 1992 to 1998, and from 2001 to 2010. In 2016, Soon-Ruiz ran for Vice Governor under

One Cebu One Cebu (1-CEBU) is a provincial political party based in the province of Cebu. It is headed by Gwendolyn Garcia, governor of Cebu. History The party was formed in response to the ''Sugbuak'', or the failed Cebu-split movement, in time for th ...

Party, with Gubernatorial Candidate and former GSIS President

Winston Garcia Winston Fiel Garcia (born May 21, 1958) is a Filipino economist, lawyer, and corporate leader who was the general manager and president of Government Service Insurance System. He has served as the director and board member of several of the bigges ...

as her tandem for the 2016 Philippine Elections, but both lost to Governor

Hilario Davide III Hilario "Junjun" Perez Davide III (born August 25, 1964) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who is the incumbent vice governor of Cebu. He served as a governor of Cebu Province from 2013 to 2019. He is the son of former Chief Justice Hilario Da ...

and Vice Governor

Agnes Magpale Agnes Almendras Magpale (born January 21, 1942) is Filipina educator and politician from Cebu, Philippines. In 2010, she became a Cebu Provincial Board Member, acting Vice Governor, and acting Governor within a single three-year electoral term t ...

. She ran for City Councilor of Mandaue under the lineup of

Jonas Cortes Jonas Cabungcal Cortes (born July 20, 1966) is a Filipino politician serving as the Mayor of Mandaue City since 2019, a position he previously held from 2007 to 2016. He previously served as representative of the sixth district of Cebu from 20 ...

in 2019, and was elected.

Suspension

In 2020, Soon-Ruiz was suspended for 90 days for pending 34 counts of graft and malversation by the

Sandiganbayan The Sandiganbayan ( en, Support of the Nation) is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officer ...

over allegations of her

Priority Development Assistance Fund The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was a discretionary fund in the Philippines available to members of Congress. Originally established as the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) in 1990, it was designed to allow legislators to fund sm ...

(PDAF) allocation to fake non-governmental organizations while serving as a congresswoman from 2007 to 2010.

References

People from Mandaue 1956 births Living people Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cebu Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines PDP–Laban politicians One Cebu politicians Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines) {{Philippines-politician-stub