Blind Fil-Am civil rights lawyer running for city council in West Covina, California

Blind since birth, civil rights lawyer Ollie Cantos is running for West Covina City Council in District 4. WEBSITE

A blind Filipino American longtime civil rights lawyer is running for City Council in District 4 of West Covina, California in the Nov. 8 election.

Ollie Cantos has been Special Assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) since 1990. He has been working remotely since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Cantos is also the board chairman of the disability rights organization RespectAbility, the first disabled Asian American to chair a national disability group.

Blind since birth (he has no vision in his left eye and can barely see from his right eye), he is the son of Filipino immigrants. He grew up in West Covina from his preschool years and was the victim of daily bullying and taunts by other kids.

Overcoming many obstacles, he became active in the civil rights arena as attorney mentor for the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights, vice president of the Virginia Association of Parents of Blind Children, and member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. He was named ABC News Person of the Week, for his advocacies.

Cantos also had leadership roles at the Disability Rights Legal Center, the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the Justice Department’s Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Cantos adopted blind Colombia-born triplets, Leo, Nick, and Steven, all of whom have become distinguished Eagle Scouts, survived COVID-19 together.