Leticia Valdez Ramos-Shahani (September 30, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was a Filipina

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

, diplomat, and writer. She was the younger sister of Fidel V. Ramos, the 12th

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

Early life

Ramos House historical marker in Lingayen, Pangasinan

She was born on September 30, 1929, in

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen ( pag, Baley na Lingayen; ilo, Ili ti Lingayen; tgl, Bayan ng Lingayen), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its c ...

and grew up in Asingan town along with his brother, former President Fidel V. Ramos. Her father, Narciso Ramos (1900–1986), was a lawyer, crusading journalist and five-term legislator at the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, who eventually became Secretary of Foreign Affairs. As such, Narciso Ramos was the Philippine signatory to the

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a Political union, political and economic union of 10 member Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental coo ...

declaration forged in

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in 1967 and was one of the founder of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

. He was of the Ramos clan that has roots in Asingan, Pangasinan. Her mother, Angela Valdez-Ramos (1905–1978), was an educator,

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and daughter of the prominent Valdez clan of Batac,

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner o ...

, making her a second degree cousin of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martia ...

, the 10th President of the Philippines.

Education

Ramos-Shahani finished her elementary and secondary level education at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

. She finished her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficia ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and her master's degree in

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. She earned her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in comparative literature at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

(Sorbonne) after defending her doctoral thesis with highest honors. She was a former dean of the

Graduate School Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...

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of the Philippines. She taught

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, Spanish, comparative literature,

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

and others. She was former member of the faculty of the

from 1954 to 1957, Queens Borough Community College, New York in 1961, Brooklyn College, New York in 1962 and New School for Social Research, New York from 1962 to 1967. She was also the former dean of the College of International, Humanitarian, and Development Studies of Miriam College.

Political career

Early diplomatic career

After passing the Philippine Foreign Service Officer (FSO) Examination, Ramos-Shahani held various high positions such as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Australia from August 1978 to December 1980;

UN Assistant Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General of the Uni ...

for Social and Humanitarian Affairs from 1981 to 1986; and

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derive ...

of the World Conference on the UN Decade of Women in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in 1985. As Ambassador, she travelled extensively around Australia and was the first Philippine envoy to Australia to visit the Northern Territory. Under her watch, the Australian-Philippines Friendship Society was formally organized in December 1980. She also saw the first formal consultations between Philippines and Australia in Canberra in 1979 and again in 1980. She advocated for the establishment of a chair in Philippine studies in a top university in Australia.

People Power Revolution

Ramos-Shahani eventually spoke up against the Marcos dictatorship, speaking in support of opposition candidate

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

. She then resigned from her UN post and returned to the Philippines, whereupon she tried to convince her brother, Philippine Constabulary Director General Fidel V. Ramos, to support the opposition. After the

1986 EDSA Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of c ...

, Ramos-Shahani became the new revolutionary government's Deputy Minister for Philippine Affairs, serving until a new constitution and a new democratic government could be established, in 1987.

Senatorial career

In 1987, Ramos-Shahani was elected as Senator in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

. Reelected in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, she rose to the post of Senate President pro tempore in 1993, under the rule of her brother Fidel. During her term in Senate, Ramos-Shahani was the chair of various committees like the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Education, Culture and Arts, Committee on Agriculture and member of the Commission on Appointments.

Post-Senate career

After her second Senate term ended in 1998, Ramos-Shahani would later hold several positions in government. Between 2001 and 2004, she served as Director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), Presidential Adviser on Culture and head of the National Committee of Libraries and Information Services of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, and chairperson of the committee on culture of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. From 2008 to 2011, she was the Dean of the College of International, Humanitarian and Development Studies of Miriam College.

Family

Ramos-Shahani was married to the late

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n professor and writer Dr. Ranjee Gurdassing Shahani, PhD (1913–1970), whose father had roots in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

(currently in

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) of undivided India, and was forced to migrate to India after the

1947 Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

."Ranjee G Shahani."

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. Together they had three children, two sons and a daughter, eldest son Ranjit, another son Chanda and the youngest, a daughter, Lila. Ranjit Ramos Shahani is the former and youngest Pangasinan Vice Governor (1990–95), Pangasinan 6th District board member (2010–2016) and member of the Board of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (''de facto'' Philippine embassy to Taiwan) from 2017 onwards. Lila Ramos Shahani is the former Assistant Secretary at the National Anti-Poverty Commission (2010–2012), former Head of Communications of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster (2010–2016) and current Secretary General of the Philippine National Commission to UNESCO appointed in 2016.Phil NatCom appointees, 2016
/ref> Son Chanda Narciso Ramos Shahani is the real estate and organic food businessman.

Death

Ramos-Shahani was rushed to the intensive care unit of

St. Luke's Medical Center – Global City St. Luke's Medical Center – Global City is a hospital at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the sister facility of the hospital of the same name in Quezon City. Both are affiliated with the Episcopal Churc ...

Bonifacio Global City Bonifacio may refer to: Places * Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, a town in Corsica, France * Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica from Sardinia * Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines * Bonifacio Global City, a central bu ...

, Taguig for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

after suffering from Stage 4 colorectal cancer. She died there on March 20, 2017, at 02:40 PHT (

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), at the age of 87. In 2018, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote a belated obituary for her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos-Shahani, Leticia 1929 births 2017 deaths People from Pangasinan Senators of the 10th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 9th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 8th Congress of the Philippines Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians Women members of the Senate of the Philippines Ambassadors of the Philippines to Australia Recipients of Gawad Mabini Leticia Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino politicians Wellesley College alumni Columbia University alumni University of Paris alumni University of the Philippines faculty 20th-century Filipino women politicians 20th-century Filipino politicians Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Deaths from pneumonia in the Philippines Filipino women ambassadors Burials at the Manila Memorial Park – Sucat Brooklyn College faculty