Stella Luz Alabastro Quimbo (' Alabastro; born November 23, 1969) is a Filipino economist, academic, and politician who has served as the representative for

Marikina's 2nd congressional district Marikina's 2nd congressional district is one of the two congressional districts of the Philippines in the city of Marikina. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2007. The district was created in 2006 fo ...

since 2019, as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. She previously served as a commissioner of the

Philippine Competition Commission The Philippine Competition Commission (PhCC) is an independent, quasi-judicial body formed to implement the Philippine Competition Act (Republic Act No. 10667). The PhCC aims to promote and maintain market competition within the Philippines by ...

from 2016 up until her resignation in 2019.

Early life

Quimbo was born on November 23, 1963 to Estrella Alabastro, who served as a secretary of science and technology under the

Arroyo Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...

administration.

Academia

Quimbo graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics ''summa cum laude'' (1991), Master of Arts in Economics (1993), and Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (2000) from the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

. She was a professor and a former department chairperson of the

University of the Philippines School of Economics The University of the Philippines School of Economics is a degree-granting unit of the University of the Philippines Diliman (U.P.), where it occupies the buildings of the Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED). The school offers two Ba ...

. From 2011 to 2013, Quimbo was appointed to the rank of full professor into the Prince Clause Professorial Chair at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. She was the first Southeast Asian to hold the position. Her research portfolio focuses on the field of health economics, industrial organization, microeconomics, education, poverty, and public policy.

Political career

Quimbo is a founding appointed commissioner of the

, who served the agency from 2016 until 2019.

Congressional career (2019–present)

In 2019, Quimbo was elected to represent the second district of Marikina in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, defeating independents Eugene de Vera and Mauro Arce to succeed her husband,

Miro Quimbo Romero Federico Saenz Quimbo (born December 12, 1969), better known as Miro Quimbo, is a Filipino politician who served as the representative for Marikina's 2nd congressional district from 2010 to 2019. Education Quimbo spent the first two years ...

, as the district's representative after he was term-limited. Quimbo was a member of a technical working group tasked to study the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, the largest broadcaster in the Philippines. She was the lone dissenter against the decision of the other two members Pablo John Garcia ( Cebu–3rd) and Xavier Jesus Romualdo (

Camiguin Camiguin, officially the Province of Camiguin ( ceb, Probinsya sa Camiguin; tl, Lalawigan ng Camiguin; Kamigin: ''Probinsya ta Kamigin''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bohol Sea, about off the northern coast of Min ...

) to disapprove the application of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

for another franchise. Quimbo is the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations in the 19th Congress.

Controversy

Eugene de Vera lodged a quo warranto petition against Quimbo following the 2019 elections. De Vera claimed that Quimbo was ineligible for the position, citing Section 8 of Republic Act No. 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act, which prohibited former commissioners of the

to run for public office during their tenure and the two-year period following their exit from the office. De Vera also claimed that Quimbo did not disclose her former commissionership by stating that she was a teacher in her certificate of candidacy. Beng Sardillo, Quimbo's legal counsel, had derided as de Vera's interpretation of the act as "patently self-serving, erroneous, and has no legal basis". The petition remains pending before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

Personal life

She is wife to lawyer and former politician

with whom she has had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quimbo, Stella Living people 1969 births 20th-century Filipino economists University of the Philippines faculty Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Marikina Women economists Erasmus University Rotterdam faculty University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Politicians from Manila Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Brown University alumni 21st-century Filipino economists