CALIFORNIA, United States?Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger will now not just be known for his action movies but as the Governor who nominated a Filipino American to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court of the most populous state in the United States.

On July 22 last week, he proudly presented Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye to a packed public gathering at the Capitol in Sacramento, a crowd which included the press, politicians, judges, her family and friends, and members of the Filipino-American community.

In his speech introducing the nominee, Chief Justice Ronald George described Tani Cantil-Sakauye as "eminently qualified," "fully prepared," and a "strong woman who strongly commits herself to the statewide administration of justice." When he gushed that her nomination ?will go down as one of the most exceptional legacies? of the Schwarzenegger administration, the governor blurted ?I get that, I know that.?

When it was her turn to speak, the woman widely known in the Filipino community as ?Judge Tani? approached the podium, flanked by the Chief Justice on her right and the Governor on her left. She thanked Gov. Schwarzenegger for bestowing "a great honor upon me and my family" and said, "I am humbled by the experience, I am grateful for the opportunity, and I am mindful of the public trust."

Judge Tani then introduced her husband, Sacramento Police Lieutenant Mark Sakauye, and their two daughters, Hana, 14, and Clare, 11. She said her two daughters have one set of Filipino grandparents who worked in the fields as farm workers and another set of Japanese grandparents who were interned in a concentration camp during World War II.

"And their mother,? Judge Tani continued as she smiled in the direction of the governor, ?well, a man of tremendous vision nominated her to lead the highest court in California. Is history remarkable or what?"

Judge Tani understands history as a member of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), which was coincidentally holding the opening session of its national conference in Seattle on that very same day.

I first met Tani Cantil more than 22 years ago when she had just started working as an assistant district attorney in Sacramento. She had driven up to San Francisco to attend a meeting of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC). At the meeting, Tani introduced herself as a graduate of the UC Davis School of Law who was inspired to become a lawyer when her mother brought her to an event where Fil-Am lawyer Gloria Megino-Ochoa spoke.

Tani would recount this event on numerous occasions to stress the importance of community role models. She recalled the exact moment when Gloria was speaking when ?my mother threw me the elbow jab and said 'You could do that too'. I didn't know what 'that' was, but I knew the elbow jab. And I knew that what Gloria was doing was important and good work for the public."

The elbow jab from her second-generation Filipina mother and the legacy of her strong Cebuana grandmother inspired her to go to law school. ?We were taught to see ourselves as leaders,? Tani recalled of her mother?s lessons. ?I stand on the shoulders of my grandmother and my mother,? she would later declare in many of her speeches. ?I am here for someone to stand on my shoulders,? she promised.

Gloria Megino-Ochoa had broken a barrier by being the first Filipino American in California to be elected as a supervisor when she made it to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in 1988. She narrowly lost her bid to be the first Filipino American elected to the US Congress when her millionaire Republican opponent, Michael Huffington, spent 50 times more than she did to win the general elections.

Gloria graduated from UC Davis School of Law in 1976 and Tani would follow in her footsteps and enroll in the same law school in 1981 after taking a year off school to spend in the Philippines. To help pay for law school, Tani worked part-time as a blackjack dealer in Reno.

After she graduated from law school in 1984, Tani couldn?t find a job. She had applied at the Public Defender?s Office but was considered too young. Fortunately, the Sacramento County District Attorney?s Office didn?t take her age against her and accepted her application.

While working as a deputy district attorney in 1988, her childhood friend, Kirk Louie, invited her to apply for his job as deputy legal affairs secretary to Governor George Deukmejian. She did and was appointed to that position and then later as deputy legislative secretary. In 1990, at age 30, Governor Deukmejian appointed her as a judge of the Sacramento Municipal Court.

After six years on the municipal court bench, Governor Pete Wilson promoted Tani to the Sacramento County Superior Court in 1997. In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her as an associate justice of the California Third District Court of Appeal.

After 20 years of serving as a judge, at the age of 50, on 21 July 2010, Schwarzenegger nominated her to succeed retiring Chief Justice of California Ronald George.

At the July 22 public gathering in front of members of the California Supreme Court and the California Legislature, soon-to-be Chief Justice Tani vowed to uphold the rich tradition of California's justice system, which the public counts on to "right the wrongs, vanquish indignities, and provide a forum for everyone," she said.

As the next chief justice of the California Supreme Court (probably for the next 20 years), she will head an agency that has 1,700 judges (less than 12 of whom are Filipino Americans) and 21,000 other employees with a $4 billion a year budget.

"The public can count on me to look and learn from the past, to address the immediate needs and priorities of the present, and to plan and prepare for the future," she said.

Young Filipino Americans looking for a role model are welcome to stand on the shoulders of the next Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, the Honorable Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye.