USAID names Fil-Am as mission director in RP

WASHINGTON – Gloria Diño Steele left the Philippines 30 years ago little knowing she would return to her country of birth as Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Even now I still can’t believe it. I’ll only believe it when I actually arrive in Manila,” she told The STAR at a reception on Friday hosted by Ambassador Willy Gaa to celebrate the 112th anniversary of Philippine Independence.

Steele is scheduled to arrive in Manila next month at the start of a four-year assignment to oversee an office with a staff of about 120 and an annual budget of $100 million.

“Here in America, many Americans can trace their roots to the Philippines, and they are all an important part of the American identity. I am confident that our nations, sharing in our democratic principles, will continue our strong friendship and cooperation,” President Barack Obama said in a message to mark Independence Day celebrations.

Before being named Mission Director in the Philippines, Steele was Senior Deputy Assistant Administration, Bureau for Global Health at USAID.

Steele said she didn’t think she had much of a chance of getting the job because she was born in the Philippines.

But apparently this did not even come into the equation when USAID chose her from a field of applicants as its next Mission Director in the Philippines. She said US Ambassador Harry Thomas looked at her resume and concurred with the appointment.

“This is my first foreign assignment and I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said Steele still beaming with joy.

She is the only one in her family to have emigrated to the US.

Her mother Herminia, four sisters and a brother all live in Metro Manila. Her father is deceased.

“When I told my mom about my appointment she was dumbfounded. So were my sisters and my brother. They were just totally blown by the news that after a 30-year absence I would get to spend the next four years with them,” she said.

“We’re all excited because we‘ve never been together for more than a few months since I left in 1980. Of course they’re also proud of my accomplishment,” she said. 

Steele said she considers it a great honor to be able to help her country of birth and at the same time add to the legacy the US left in the Philippines such as democratic institutions and the English language.

She said she was in Manila for a few days in November 2009 – a quick detour after a conference in Vietnam.

Steele joined the Department of Agriculture under then Secretary Arturo Tanco in the early 1970s after graduating from Maryknoll College.

She was sent to Kansas State University in 1977-78 to get her masters degree and on her return to Manila she married her American husband who was with the USDA.

They left for the US in 1980 and almost immediately she joined USAID.