GMA to confer Pamana award on blind Fil-Am lawyer working in White House

President Arroyo will confer the Pamana ng Pilipino award on a blind Filipino-American lawyer who has been appointed to a key position in the office of United States President George W. Bush.

The awardee is Olegario "Ollie" Cantos VII, who has been appointed Associate Director on Disabilities of the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Executive Office of the US president, the highest designated position given to a disabled individual in the federal government today.

The award is accorded to Filipinos abroad, who, in exemplifying the talent and industry of the Filipino, have brought the country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in the pursuit of their work or profession.

The awarding ceremony will be held at Malacañang Palace on Dec. 7.

Blind since birth, Ollie hails from Batangas province. He is the first ethnic minority and first Filipino-American to serve in that office. His rise to his new post came after just 20 months in public service.

His primary functions include coordinating national disability policy across federal agencies, assisting in briefing Bush on issues of importance to the disability community, advising on potential presidential appointments, representing the administration at speaking engagements, and maintaining and fostering ongoing dialogues with leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Based on an interview with Cantos posted on the US Department of Justice’s Disability Rights online, he is the son of Filipino immigrants Orlando Cantos and Linda Dagdagan, both from Batangas, and grew up in West Covina, California.

He is the grandson of former Batangas congressman Olegario Cantos Sr., who served from 1965 to 1969.

Cantos said he was the first lawyer in his family and that his decision to go to law school actually had its roots in experiences he had when he was 10 years old and went on a first-time trip to the Philippines with his mother.

"While there, I spent time with my uncle, my father’s oldest brother. He took me to a country club whose membership fee, he boasted, was P90,000 at that time. I met provincial political leaders who were friends of his," Cantos related.

"I was struck by how these leaders enjoyed such lavish lifestyles while other Filipinos lived in abject poverty, with little hope of advancement. That bothered me, and I remember how I grew to have a deeper appreciation for the incredible opportunities available in the United States to allow anyone to succeed or fail on his or her own merit," he said in the interview.

Cantos graduated from Loyola Law School in 1997 and Loyola Marymount University in 1992 and was one of only a few graduates to have served in the leadership of the alumni associations of both schools.

Prior to his present post, Cantos was the first and only person ever to serve as general counsel and director of programs for the 120,000-member American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability national membership organization in the US.

In March 2006, he worked at the US-DOJ where he served as special counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Before that, he served in the same office as special assistant to the Assistant Attorney General.

Working on a number of fronts to advance disability rights enforcement, Cantos was a member of the Attorney General’s Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities, chairperson of the Technical Assistance and Outreach Subcommittee and member of the Incident Management Team of the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities headed by the US Department of Homeland Security, DOJ Representative on the Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility of the US Department of Transportation, and member of the subcommittee on the New Freedom Initiative of the Inter-agency Coordinating Council on Disability Research, spearheaded by the US Department of Education.

A 2001 Regional Finalist for the White House Fellowship Program and active in work both within and outside the disability community, he continues to be a sought-after speaker, serving as an example of success in every area of life by exercising both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. His engaging personal style and ability to convey thoughts through the written word have established him as one of the new, prominent leaders in the disability community.

Despite his disability, the Fil-American lawyer is a three-time finisher of the 26.2-mile Los Angeles Marathon.