Councilor Alexander “Doc Alex” Cruz Sta. Maria was born on July 31, 1971, to the late Engr. Hipolito B. Sta. Maria, who served as a barangay councilman of Hulo and professor at the University of Santo Tomas, and Dr. Antonina C. Sta. Maria, a former professor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

He is an ophthalmologist and a diplomate of the Philippine Board of Ophthalmology. He is also an active consultant at the Fatima Medical Center, the chairman of the Nazarenus Cataract Center, a senior consultant of the Borough Medical Clinic Institute, and an Associate Professor II at Our Lady of Fatima University College of Medicine.

He is happily married to Dr. Christine Mojares-Sta. Maria, an anesthesiologist, and they are blessed with three daughters—Beatrice, Hanna, and Kelsie.

He took his secondary, tertiary, and medical education at the University of Santo Tomas and has a master’s degree in local governance from the University of Makati.

He first joined the Sangguniang Panlungsod in 2010, where he served as a three-termer councilor. During his re-election bids in 2013 and 2016 for his subsequent terms, he obtained the highest number votes in the second district, which can be attributed to his credentials, track record, legislative performance, and various projects—all of which are in line with his tagline, Serbisyong Maaasahan.

He was able to implement various programs and projects, which include a year-round anti-dengue campaign; free cataract surgery, circumcision, medical and dental services, and TB awareness programs; a solar light bulb project that was adopted by some AFP units in Mindanao; basketball clinics and libreng tsinelas programs in partnership with PBA and AKTV; free breast examination and cervical screening in partnership with Soroptimist International; regular feeding programs; professional gamefowl (sabong) seminars in partnership with Sabong TV; and surgical missions in partnership with doctors from West Pennsylvania, USA.

After his stint in the city council, he was appointed as City Health Officer in 2019, with the COVID-19 response serving as the highlight of his experience. At the onset of the pandemic, he coordinated closely with then Mayor Menchie Abalos in activating the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), instituting a molecular laboratory in the National Center for Mental Health, establishing quarantine facilities in key areas in the city and a cold storage unit for vaccines, and providing for free RT-PCR swab tests to the public. He was also a key figure in the launching of MandaTrack and MandaVaxx, with the latter being hailed as an organized roll-out of the vaccination response and led to the city being the proponent of Vaxx as One, as it was the first to cater to residents from other LGUs in order to curb the effects of the pandemic not just within the city but to the entirety of the region. He also helped in partnering with private malls and companies for the vaccination response.

At present, he is back in the council, serving as the Chairman for the Committee on Health and Sanitation, Vice Chairman for the Committee on Trade, Commerce, Appropriations, Environmental Protection, Disaster Preparedness, and Games and Amusements, and Member of the Committees on Barangay Affairs; Human Rights; Laws, Rules, Government Affairs, Ethics, and Accountability.

As the Eye of the Tiger, he commits himself to providing quality, efficient, and effective public service to his constituents in the City of Mandaluyong.