Her low grade in mathematics failed her bid for a Cum Laude title when she graduated from Saint Paul University Philippines in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

However, with her overall excellence in her academic life, which was coupled with a positive spirit, Venus Ruam Cadabona, 55, managed to overcome the effects of polio and as she strived further to be on top of it.

Cadabona, who hails from Piat, Cagayan, the eldest among the four siblings, started her working stint as a proofreader at the Golden Press publication house and a radio announcer for the DZYT in Tuguegarao City, before migrating to Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. This came after being married to Domingo ‘Bingo’ Cadabona, a media practitioner.

Becoming a housewife and a caring mother to their three children, Cadabona still struggled to work at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Bayombong, where she finished her 16-year working period in the private sector.

“My disability is never a hindrance towards my goals and dreams in life. I always anchor my life with the Lord, always grateful for his blessings, and all challenges and hardships are my springboards to success,” she said.

While at the SMU, she earned units through the Master in Public Administration (MPA) graduate school, made two years in law studies, earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA), and earned more units in Doctoral Degree, focusing on Rural Development Studies.

Cadabona’s research paper entitled, “Assessment of the Performance Appraisal System for Non-Teaching Personnel of SMU: Basis for Policy Recommendations for an Improved Performance Evaluation Tool”, has been lauded with the LIKHA award by the university.

Her principles revolve around the belief that everybody is born equal, no one is perfect, and nobody monopolizes knowledge, hence people complement each other. This, along with her positive state of mind, became her guiding advocacies in her journey as a Person With Disability (PWD).

“I want to be a role model to my fellow PWDs, to inspire them to continue their battles,” Cadabona said.

She continued her life journey as a PWD by entering the government sector as an executive assistant of the Governor’s Office in Nueva Vizcaya in 2012, then as an administrative officer at the Provincial Engineering Office from 2013 to 2018. Finally, she was designated as a focal person for PWDs since 2019 up to the present.

As the head of the Provincial Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), Cadabona serves her fellow PWDs through the provincial government’s advocacy programs, projects, and services.

  Through her initiative, a database for PWDs in the province had been established, which the PDAO uses for various planning and implementation of programs in support of the PWD sector.

She spearheads the establishment of linkages and partnerships with the national and local governments, and PWD organizations, for the provision of assistive devices and financial assistance among others, to her fellow PWDs in the province.

Last year, Cadabona convened PWD focal persons of the 15 MLGUs in Nueva Vizcaya for the availment of free computer desktops, and in threshing out issues and concerns of the PWD sector.

Often invited to various speaking engagements of government and private organizations, she continues to advocate the rights and privileges of PWDs, including the monitoring of the Accessibility Law implementation in all buildings and facilities of the provincial and municipal LGUs.

As a link of the PLGU to the PWD sector, Cadabona also provides capacity-building activities to prepare PWDs in managing their livelihood projects, through partnerships with the government and private sector.

With her dedication and commitment to work, coupled with her firm stand to strive for excellence, PWDs in the province are assured of their care and protection.

Her efforts for the welfare of her fellow PWDs were also recognized by the National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA).

With her active and unceasing involvement in PWD affairs, Cadabona was appointed as the PDAO Representative for the entire Cagayan Valley, and was elected as Treasurer of the League of PDAOs of the Philippines.

“I love to serve our PWD sector, and I want to capacitate our members, to wean them from their daily struggles. I want them to feel inclusive governance and PWD inclusivity, a simple legacy, by transcending their disabilities to abilities,” Cadabona said. #(BME/OTB/ALM/JKC/PIA Region 2)