Billy Dec, New AAPI Initiative Commissioner

By: Lou Maningas Cabalona

 

Walking down a couple of blocks away from the blue-painted facade of a popular Asian restaurant on Illinois Street, I see a fedora-clad man carrying a neatly pressed modern barong (a formal shirt in the Philippines) on one hand heading towards me. There is no mistaking; it is the man of the hour, Filipino American businessman, Billy Dec, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama as one of the distinguished Commissioners of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Lou interviews Billy Dec, New AAPI Initiative Commissioner, inside Sunda Restaurant (owned by him),

At a Meet and Greet organized by the White House at Sunda Restaurant, I had the chance to speak with Dec, often described as the Nightlife Impresario of Chicago, this time to talk about his impressions and advocacies on his new role. Upon being asked about how it feels to meet President Barack Obama he quickly shares, “I actually met him early on before he started campaigning for his presidency. But earlier this month, I was able to meet with him with a small group of people at the White House about Immigration and it was really nice to be able to share my family’s story. It’s really amazing that the President would take the time to gather us at a table and give someone like me the platform to share the story of Filipino Americans. Can you say then that the White House Initiative on AAPI is focused on fixing the immigration problem? They are definitely aware of it and they are really absorbing the stories and the needs, want and desires of the community and sharing it literally in that capacity with the decision-makers like the President. Any programs you hope to start up in Chicago that will get those stories out? Well, today (referring to the meet and greet) is a really great example of bringing Chicagoans and people from Illinois, the Midwest together to make connections first and foremost, to give them the tool to have these channels of communication open that I can receive and bring direct in that capacity. To cite a possible issue that currently inhibits us from actually having a stronger voice as a people he adds, “There’s something about Asian American communities or at least I’ll say the Filipino American Community or bare minimum, my family within the Filipino community. We are very communicative within our groups but sometimes it doesn’t leave the group. Our story is really important to the success of the fabric that makes America economically, socially and so many different ways that if it doesn’t get out, it doesn’t do anything.” It seems like, (majority of) Filipinos, when it comes to political advocacies and giving their stance on issues that may affect us as a people, we aren’t as vocal. Right. I hope this serves as an example that you can be Filipino and be out and about, hugely immigrated into the community, even in government and begin to make noise. There are so many wonderful things about the Filipino community, culture and customs that allow us to have strong ties to our past allowing us to keep integrity of what we love and where we came from but we just have to add on to that. That’s really what my goal is as a representative of the Filipino American community. With the committee, is there a push to have more representatives of Asian American ethnicity in government? Absolutely. It’s actually one of the biggest areas of concern not just within the Asian American community but with all ethnic and minority groups to make these pushes to the entire pipeline from internships, boards to all positions within government to begin integrating all minority groups in a way that is more reflective of the diversity of the country. Are you thinking of going in to politics as well at some point? No. My interest has definitely been community-based. I have been doing a lot of fundraising and working with charity groups both here and in the Philippines. If I can do good on boards or commissions like this where I am in front of actual people constantly, I feel I will be able to do a lot (of good) with that. Dec enthusiastically shared details of his recent trip to Tacloban where he got his hands dirty building homes through Philippine-based, Gawad Kalinga as well as see first-hand, the good work that USAID has done. “The best part is, immediately with the appointment, I was able to meet, work and be with USAID, a division of the US Government, in our efforts to support (rehabilitation efforts). We were the first on the ground the day after the disaster happened and they stayed. I was really proud that USAID led the whole thing.” He plans to be back for his mom’s 50th high school reunion and hopes to visit Tacloban again. At the end of our short chat, Dec spoke about personally identifying and sympathizing with some of the struggles we have such as negative implications of the model minority myth that hinder us from getting support from the government because of the perception that our race as a whole is doing well, adapting to our new country or the statistics on bullying for AAPIs as compared with other races (20% more!). He affirms that there are initiatives that the commission works on. In this first three or four weeks since being appointed, I can sense his apparent enthusiasm to promoting the initiatives of the government in reaching out to AAPIs. Whether he attempts to take the wheel championing less established causes such as the Filipino WWII veterans’ equity act or the near absence of Filipino Americans in American history, we will have to wait and see. On a hopeful note, if Dec is able to use his promoting skills to elevate these causes in a way where a significant discussion is started outside of our community, I believe he will have accomplished his job.##

Lou and Baron Cabalona, in a photo-opp with Billy Dec.