A Filipina has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner for the US Bureau of Reclamation by no less than US President Joe Biden.
Pangasinan native Camille Calimlim-Touton is the third Filipino to join Biden’s roster of staff.
She will be working under the Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency under the US Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management. It is also the nation’s largest wholesaler of water, and the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western US.
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Prior to her appointment to the post, Calimlim-Touton worked in the House of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She also worked in the White House as counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science under the administration of then US president Barack Obama before moving to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
She also worked with Rep. Grace Napolitano of the 32nd District of California as one of her trusted advisors on water policy.
Napolitano said her appointment is considered historic since “she becomes the first Filipino-American to serve in this important agency leadership role”.
Calimlim-Touton was born in Quezon City. Her parents are both from Pangasinan where she spent her childhood living in Dagupan and Calasiao.
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Their family migrated to the US when she was in elementary.
Dagupan City’s Public Information Office hailed her as “Dagupan’s Pride”.
In a post today on its Facebook page, they also revealed that her grandmother Juanita Calimlim is also a public servant having served as the village chief of Barangay Tebeng. (ES)
