Leticia Ramos-Shahani, ex-senator, diplomat, 87

Kristine Joy V Patag
21 March 2017

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=leticia-ramos-shahani-ex-senator-diplomat-87&id=142500

DIPLOMAT, LAWMAKER, academician, and women's rights champion Leticia Ramos-Shahani died on Monday at the age of 87.

Widely regarded as one of the institutions of post-Marcos democracy -- for her joining the anti-Marcos opposition at a critical time and for her dynamic participation in the succeeding milieu as a senator -- Mrs. Shahani is survived by her children Lila, Ranjit, and Chanda, her siblings Gloria Ramos-Rodda and former President Fidel V. Ramos, and their families.

Lila, secretary-general of the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO, said in part on her Facebook page: "Mom left the body, by the awful grace of God, at 2:40 a.m. this morning, just a few hours after my 50th birthday."

There was no indicated cause of death but in 2015, Mrs. Shahani was reported diagnosed with cancer.

Born on Sept. 30, 1929, Mrs. Shahani first followed in the footsteps of her mother, educator Angela Valdez, before moving on to the field of her father, the renowned diplomat Narciso Ramos.

A 1989 profile by The New York Times said Mrs. Shahani majored in English at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and earned a master's degree in comparative literature at Columbia University in 1954 and a doctorate at the Sorbonne in 1961. That year, she married a fellow intellectual, Indian Ranjee Shahani, with whom she had three children. Mr. Shahani died in 1968.

According to her profile on the Senate's Web site, Mrs. Shahani served in the academe as dean at the Graduate School of the Lyceum of the Philippines, and thereafter was at the faculty of the University of the Philippines (1954 to 1957), then in New York at Queensborough Community College (1961), Brooklyn College (1962), and New School for Social Research (1962-1972). Mrs. Shahani taught English literature, French, Spanish, comparative literature, humanities, and social psychology, among other subjects.

Thereafter, she moved to the international arena, joining the United Nations in 1964, where she coauthored the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Mrs. Shahani also served as ambassador to Australia in 1981 and secretary-general of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade of Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985.

Until then leading a quiet life, Mrs. Shahani made the news in December 1985 when she left the diplomatic service to join the anti-Marcos opposition and campaign for its standard-bearer in the snap presidential election, Corazon C. Aquino.

"In 1985-1986, it was my pleasant task as candidate Cory('s) spokesperson to announce that Manang (Mrs. Shahani), then with the administration, was joining us. She defected on Dec. 28, 1985, when our chances looked dim. How gutsy and principled of her," former senator Rene A.V. Saguisag said in an e-mail when sought for comment on Mrs. Shahani's passing.

Her brother, Fidel V. Ramos, at the time was second in command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Two months later, he and then defense minister Juan F. Ponce-Enrile, together with the restive elements of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, declared their breakaway from the Marcos dictatorship that led to the People Power Revolution of February 1986.

In Mrs. Aquino's government, Mrs. Shahani ran for and was elected senator in 1987, together with Mr. Saguisag and other allies of Mrs. Aquino. She led various committees in the Senate, including the committee on foreign affairs. In 1991, Mrs. Aquino's allies in the Senate became polarized by the contentious lease on the US bases that Mrs. Aquino campaigned for.

"Manang voted a critical Yes in 1991 on the bases, differing with us, the so-called Magnificent Twelve who thought the time had come to end our status as America's Last Plantation," Mr. Saguisag recalled. "When EDCA was enacted bypassing the Senate, Manang, with the poignancy of a recantation, joined us in various fora, in protest."Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella in a statement described Mrs. Shahani as a "profound humanist," adding, "Senator Shahani served the nation well as Senator of the Republic and worked tirelessly in the executive branch in various capacities under different administrations."Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel II, in his statement, said Mrs. Shahani "left an indelible mark in the nation's political landscape and in our foreign relations."

Mr. Pimentel's father, Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. was a Senate colleague of Mrs. Shahani in the post Marcos-era 8th Congress.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in its statement said Mrs. Shahani is the "epitome of a world (-) class Filipina -- strong, intelligent, accomplished, and one who was always passionate about the Philippines."

Rafael Alunan III, interior secretary during the Ramos administration, said for his part: "She lived a moral and selfless life of service. Thank you Ma'am for all the good you did for the country and for humanity."Senator Franklin M. Drilon, who served in Mrs. Aquino's Cabinet as labor and later executive secretary while Mrs. Shahani was in the Senate, said in his statement: "As a neophyte senator back in 1995, I have had the honor of serving with Senator Ramos-Shahani in the halls of the Upper Chamber. I remember her as a determined and hardworking lawmaker, who tirelessly championed the passage of key legislation that benefit and positively influence the lives of our people up to this day."Mr. Saguisag in his e-mail described Mrs. Shahani thus: "The Pearl of the Orient Seas has just [lost] another gem or jewel."Another colleague of Mrs. Shahani in the Senate, incumbent Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada, said in part: "The Filipino nation lost a true-blue public servant, a fierce defender of women's rights, a seasoned diplomat, and a devoted environmentalist." Among the incumbent senators, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Francis N. Pangilinan, Grace Poe, and detained senator Leila M. de Lima also paid tribute to Mrs. Shahani in their respective statements. "In my years of public service, I have looked up to her for inspiration, courage and wisdom," went a note by Ms. De Lima. "Even during her retirement, she remained the voice of reason and diplomacy." -- with Lucia Edna P. de Guzman, Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral, and a report by interaksyon.com