Imelda Gallardo Calixto-Rubiano (born August 16, 1960), known as Emi Rubiano, is a Filipino businesswoman and politician currently serving as mayor of

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

since 2019. She previously served as a member of the

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

for the lone district of

from 2010 until 2019, and city councilor from 1998 until 2004, and again from 2007 until 2010. Rubiano is the daughter of former OIC-Mayor of Pasay, Eduardo Calixto, sister of former mayor and incumbent congressman Antonino Calixto, and aunt of incumbent councilors Mark Anthony Calixto and Jose "Joey" Calixto Isidro Jr. of the first and second district, respectively.

Early life and education

Imelda Calixto was born on August 16, 1960, in Pasay City as the youngest of the five children of Eduardo Calixto and Leonora Gallardo Calixto. She was educated at the Malate Catholic School at primary and secondary level and obtained her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Behavioral Science Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with Human behavior, human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be ap ...

at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

in 1982. She took up Fashion Designing at the International School of Fashion in Greenhills,

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

and the Office Procedure Course at the Cora Doloroso Career Centre. After graduation, she got involved in her father's business that was involved in

marine engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circ ...

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

construction, marine pipe-laying and marine salvaging. She was involved as well as in her own family business which was manufacturing clothes, multi-level marketing and jewelry.

Career

In 1986, Calixto-Rubiano became a private secretary to her father, Eduardo Calixto, during his term as Officer-in-Charge Mayor of

. She became city councilor for second district of Pasay from 1998 until 2004 and again from 2007 until 2010. During her term as councilor, she made various projects, including feeding programs, free medical and dental check-up, and others. She also ran for representative for the lone district of Pasay in 2004 under Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino but lost to incumbent representative Connie Dy. After the loss, she became the head of the Pasay City Social Welfare Department in 2005.

Congresswoman

Rubiano was elected representative for the lone district of Pasay in the

, after she defeated incumbent representative Jose Antonio "Lito" Roxas, who sought for his second term, in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. She was re-elected in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Mayor of Pasay

On May 13, 2019, Rubiano was elected as mayor in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

, after she received 125,391 votes. She was sworn in as mayor on June 30, 2019. She is the first female city mayor in the history of Pasay. She led the Pasay City Government especially during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She was successfully reelected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

after she received 147,661 votes. She is running for re-election in 2025 and later won.

Controversies

In January 2019, Rubiano, along with four other officials, including her brother, was charged for being related to alleged fiscal anomalies in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Personal life

Rubiano married Edgardo Rubiano on December 18, 1982. They have three children: Nicole, Lesley Anne, and Luigi. Luigi is running for Pasay 2nd district councilor in 2025. Rubiano announced on February 9, 2021, that she tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. On January 2, 2022, it was announced that she tested positive for COVID-19 anew; she was an

asymptomatic carrier An asymptomatic carrier is a person or other organism that has become infected with a pathogen, but shows no signs or symptoms. Although unaffected by the pathogen, carriers can transmit it to others or develop symptoms in later stages of the d ...

after having a

sore throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. The majority of sore throats are caused by a virus, for which antibiotics are not helpful. For sore throat caused by bacteria (GAS), treatment with antibiotics may hel ...

which she always had.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubiano, Imelda 1960 births Living people Filipino Roman Catholics 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Mayors of Pasay Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians Partido Demokratiko Pilipino politicians Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Pasay Tagalog people University of Santo Tomas alumni 21st-century Filipino businesspeople Women mayors of places in the Philippines Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines