2 Filipino-Americans named to US gov’t posts

(left) Jason Tengco —PHOTO FROM NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILIPINO AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS FACEBOOK PAGE and Gloria Diño-Steele —PHOTO FROM HTTPS://PH.USEMBASSY.GOV

MANILA, Philippines — Moving to fulfill campaign promises, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has named two Filipino-Americans to government posts —one born of migrant parents in the United States and the other an émigré who spent 40 years in the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The young Jason Tengco, born in San Francisco to Filipino migrants, was named White House liaison officer of the US federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Tengco, an alumni of the University of California in Los Angeles, has been an active member of the US Democratic Party since graduation and served as interns for Democratic congressmen and worked on the campaign organization of former US first lady Hillary Clinton.

He was also chief of staff of the coalitions department of the Biden-Harris campaign and because Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Outreach lead on the transition team.

Prior to that, he served as executive director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, a non-partisan and non-profit organization that promotes the welfare and well-being of the millions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans across the United States.

On the other hand, Gloria Diño-Steele, born and raised in the Philippines before migrating to the United States when she was an employee of USAID, was named acting administrator of USAID where she served various positions over 40 years.

Diño-Steele, an alumna of the College of the Holy Spririt and Maryknoll College (now Meriam College), also worked as a management consultant at the Philippine Department of Agriculture before joining USAID in the 1980s.

According to USAID website, Biden appointed Steele, a “distinguished career member of the U.S. Government’s Senior Executive Service for over 18 years,” on January 20.

Before her retirement last year, Steele served as the acting assistant administrator and senior deputy assistant administrator for USAID’s bureau for Asia from 2015 to 2020.