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WASHINGTON DC – Valerie Santos, 36, is the highest ranking Fil-Am in Washinton DC’s city hall since she was appointed Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development, perhaps one of the toughest jobs because of the recession. She is also the first Asian-American to occupy that post.
The Office of the Deputy Mayor is responsible for coordinating policies and projects related to affordable housing, business attraction and retention, workforce and economic development.
DC Mayor Adrian Fenty chose Santos to replace her old boss Deputy Mayor Neil Albert last June She was previously chief operating officer. She is tasked with carrying out Fenty’s economic vision and managing about $13 billion-worth of projects in public-private housing, retail, office and parks development already in the development pipeline.
Part of Santos’ job is promoting festivals that provide an added lure for the city. Hence, she was meeting with Fil-Am leaders to discuss next year’s Philippine Festival in the District.
“We would love boxing to come here in the District,” she tells ABS-CBN News, as she pondered on the feasibility of a Pacquiao bout here. “He’s the only reason I watch any boxing,” Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos admitted at a meeting with Filipino American community leaders the morning after the Pacquiao-Cotto fight.
She revealed she has already been talking with boxing promoters but the biggest obstacle was the venue. The city has three major-league stadiums but nothing that can host a major fight like those in Las Vegas.
Still, the thought of Manny Pacquiao holding one of his bouts in DC was a titillating thought for every Fil-Am here.
Proudly Pinoy
Valerie Santos is proud of her roots. “I feel very honored and supported by the Filipino community particularly as I enter this new job. I tell people that I couldn’t have done anything were it not for my parents,” she explaied.
Her parents immigrated to the Bay Area in California in the 1960s. Her father was originally from Bulacan, her mother from Zamboanga City.
“I tell people all the time that part of what keeps me motivated is wanting to make my parents proud, and my parents’ many sacrifices to come here, leaving so much behind,” Santos said.
“It keeps me motivated and very centered for my job,” she stressed to ABS-CBN News.
She was born and raised in San Francisco.
Santos graduated from the Jesuit-run Santa Clara University in the Silicon Valley, and later earned an MBA and Master’s of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Fresh from college, Santos went home and worked for a year as a volunteer at the Ateneo de Zamboanga.
“I was a regular teacher there, the pay was the equivalent of $120 a month and my rent was $20. It was a great experience,” she recounted.
She said she sometimes got as far as bandit-infested Basilan.
Her time in Mindanao helped influence her choice of specialization.
“I was always interested in community development. My time in the Philippines, I got really interested in Mindanao. There are so many natural resources but very underdeveloped, very poorly staffed institutions,” she noted.
Another reason for going back to the Philippines is to see her “lola”.
“My father’s family is in Pasig. My grandparents still have a store at the palengke. That’s how they raised their nine kids. My mother’s family is scattered around Zamboanga and elsewhere,” she explained.
She still calls her parents regularly.
Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos is keeping her roots strong.
With reports from ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
Thank you for posting in this website the story about Valerie Santos. One of the schools (Sta. Clara University) where she studied is 30 minutes away from us.
It’s nice to know that she is holding one of the highest government positions in Washington, D.C.
Mabuhay ang Filipino!
Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.