Date of Birth:  December 13, 1973

Hometown: Kiangan, Ifugao

Current Occupation: Executive Director at Freedom Technology Wheelchair Foundation, Inc.

Disability: Polio on both legs (wheelchair user)

Cause of Disability: Poliomyelitis

Event at the 2012 Paralympic Games: Powerlifting (Over 82.5 Category)

Years in Competitive Sports: 15 years

Recent Awards and Accomplishments:

• Gold, 6^th ASEAN Para Games, Solo, Indonesia, 2011
• Gold, IWAS World Games, Bangalore, India, 2009
• Gold, 5^th ASEAN Para Games, KL, Malaysia, 2009
• Gold, 4^th ASEAN Para Games, Korat, Thailand, 2008
• Gold, Asian Powerlifting Open Championship, Manila, Philippines, 2007
• Gold, 3^rd ASEAN Para Games Manila, Philippines, 2005
• Gold, 2^nd ASEAN Para Games, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2003
• Gold, 10^th Malaysian Paralympiad, KL Malaysia, 2000
• Gold, USA Paralympic Qualifier, Florida USA, 2000
• Gold, Asian Benchpress Championships, Manila, 1999
• Silver, Asian Para Games, Guangzhou, China, 2010
• Silver, Far East and South Pacific Games, Busan, Korea, 2002
• Silver, Far East and South Pacific Games, Bangkok Thailand, 1999
• Bronze, Paralympic Games, Sydney, Australia, 2000

National Record holder since 1997 up to the present

Three-time Paralympian

• Sydney, Australia 2000
• Athens, Greece 2004
• Beijing, China 2008

Distinction:  The first and still the only Filipino Paralympic Games Medalist

Dumapong-Ancheta was born in Kiangan, Ifugao Province on Dec. 13, 1973 to a father who was a mid-level public servant with not enough resources to support six children. Her parents had to make a painful decision.

“I remember my father and mother arguing whether to leave me in a dormitory for persons with disability or grow-up in Kiangan. I remember my father telling my mother that my staying in Kiangan would be selfish for them,” recalls Dumapong-Ancheta, the third in the brood.

She was sent to a dormitory for PWDs called Bahay Mapagmahal in Quezon City, ran by sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, where she grew up.–Cong B. Corrales

Read More on PWD Files: A Filipina Paralympic legend

Click here to see the other 2012 Paralympians