Francis Zamora


Francisco Javier "Francis" M. Zamora is a Filipino politician, businessman, and basketball player. He is the incumbent mayor of the city of San Juan and has served for two terms as its vice mayor from 2010 to 2016.

Career

Sports

Zamora, 6'5 was the team captain of the De La Salle Green Archers who won two championships of UAAP Men's Basketball in 1998 and 1999 under then-Head Coach Franz Pumaren. He graduated with an AB in psychology in 1999. After his college career he played in major leagues, including the Philippine Basketball League for the teams Welcoat Paintmasters and Blu Detergent. Zamora was the #35 draft pick in the 2001 PBA draft for the Sta. Lucia Realtors. However, he never saw action for Asia's pioneer play-for-pay league.
As a public servant, Zamora played in the UNTV Cup. He played for the Congress-LGU Legislators on UNTV Cup Season 1 in 2013, for the LGU Vanguards on Season 2 in 2014, and for the HOR Solons on Season 4.

Politics

Zamora received a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 2006, and did a business and entrepreneurship program at New York University. In 2007, Zamora started his career in politics, as councilor of the 2nd district of San Juan. He is also a member of the JCI San Juan group. Three years later he was elected Vice Mayor.
After two consecutive terms as Vice Mayor, Zamora ran for the mayoralty post in the 2016 elections. He faced the incumbent mayor Guia Gomez, promising to stop the dynasty of the Ejercito-Estradas, who, in his words, had run the city's politics for 47 years. However he narrowly lost the said election to Gomez.
In 2019, Zamora ran once again for the mayoralty post under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan against incumbent Vice Mayor Janella Ejercito who was endorsed by administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago and her grandmother, the outgoing mayor. In the election, Zamora defeated the daughter of former mayor and senator Jinggoy Estrada by a margin of 10,247 votes, ending control of the Ejercito-Estrada clan of the city after 50 years.

Personal life

He is the son of Ronaldo Zamora, a long-time congressman in San Juan who served the city for almost two decades. He married Keri Neri in 2001 and has four children. Since 2014, Zamora is the owner of a Goldilocks Bakeshop franchise branch in the Greenhills Shopping Center.