Shahani on life after politics

Looking pert and young with an Audrey Hepburn haircut, Leticia Ramos-Shahani told a group of mostly senior citizens that there is life after politics — and retirement. The former senator was guest speaker at the Tuesday breakfast prayer meeting of Capitol Christian Leadership (CCL), a group established in 1968 with the slogan “United for Faith, Freedom and Leadership.” CCL used to meet at a hotel in Quezon City, but money having become harder to come by, the members have settled on meeting at the social hall of Faith Baptist Church on West Avenue, Quezon City.

 Two of CCL’s 4-fold purpose is to meet leaders in government and professionals for fellowship, discussions and prayer, “so that Faith may relate to work and life,” and create “a wider awareness of and Faith in Jesus Christ — the answer to all human problems.”

Shahani held a mostly senior citizen audience spellbound and shaking their heads and nodding in agreement as she talked about the nature of Philippine politics. She drew a dismal picture of politics corrupting power holders. “When one is in politics, one can’t do no wrong,” she said. When one is in power, one doesn’t have to do anything — somebody does things for him — answering the cell phone, tying his shoe laces, opening doors for him, accepting gifts, etc. But the bad guy is not just the politician — “We have to look at ourselves, at our being subservient to power. People who have become rich even by unethical means we have accepted.”

Here are some of her quotable statements:

 â€œYou don’t accumulate money when in power, but a lot of politicians become rich when sitting in office.”

“Politics is a fight for power, position and money. But it is also an arena where you can do good things.”

“Some refuse to retire from politics. They continue to be in power by running for lower offices, they let their families run — their wives and children and relatives.” That is political dynasty, Philippine style.

But within the same breath, she said, her brother became president of the Republic, and she, a senator, and her son, Ranjit, a provincial board member. No, she said, that is not political dynasty. I must add that there are many in power today that has almost every member of the family sitting pretty in the houses of legislature.

When one retires, one retires, literally. She held up as a good example of one keeping her word — the late President Corazon Aquino. The president, at the end of her term, could have run for election, but she said “Paalam.” And she meant it.

Among the morning’s listeners were Dr. Dante Liban, former Secretary Ilde Remolona, Aida de la Cruz, Aileen Grace A. Papin, Atty. David Aguila (CCL legal adviser), businesswoman Gilda Delegencia, Dr. Esther Fe Bacayo Gusto, Jean Puno, and retired army generals and educators, Rev. Eddie M. Viray, and Bishop Juan Pring. The CCL chair is Rev. Jose L. Gonzales, and the Faith Baptist Church pastor, Jesse Ray I. Porras. Appointed on the spot as honorary CCl chair was Senator Shahani; before her, Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno.

Asked if there is hope in Philippine politics, the speaker said yes, but there must be “a good reservoir of values” in politicians and people. She added that we need “a secular society that is fair and just. But we have to be closer to God.”

Looking back, she is grateful for her having attended Sunday school, where values are taught among young kids.

Letty was born on Sept. 30, 1929 in Lingayen, Pangasinan to Narciso Ramos, who became secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Angela Valdez. Aside from her brother Fidel who became Philippine president, a noted sibling is her sister Gloria Ramos, a diplomat. She raised her three children by herself after the sudden death of her husband Ranjee Shahani (an Indian professor and writer).

 She finished her elementary and secondary education at the University of the Philippines. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree in comparative literature from Columbia University in New York in 1954. She received the highest honors for her doctoral thesis in comparative literature from Sorbonne in France in 1961.

Shahani was one of the women senators on Corazon Aquino’s slate in the 1987 elections together with Santanina Rasul. She considers herself “a politician by accident.” All she wanted was to be a teacher. For some time, she taught English, literature, humanities, comparative literature, Spanish, French, social psychology, and other subjects in premier colleges and universities in the Philippines and abroad. She worked as a professor at the UP, Queens Borough Community College, New York, Brooklyn College, New York, and New School for Social Research. She also became the dean of the Graduate School at the Lyceum of the Philippines.

She initially joined the Foreign Service through the Philippine Mission to the United Nations. She became part of the United Nations Secretariat’s advocacy on women’s issues until she became the head of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Then, she served as ambassador to Romania (1975-1978) and Australia (1981-1986). In 1981, she returned to the United Nations as Assistant Secretary General for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, based in Vienna. She was also posted as Secretary-General of the World Conference on the UN Decade of Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. She returned to the Philippines after the 1986 EDSA Revolution and became Deputy Minister for Philippine Affairs.

She won a senatorial seat in 1987 and served for almost a decade. During the Ninth Congress (1992-1995), she was elected as President Pro Tempore and assumed the position from 1993 to 1995. She also chaired three major committees — Foreign Affairs, Education, and Agriculture — and became a member of the Commission on Appointments.

Shahani pushed important pieces of legislation covering the welfare of women, the youth, farmers, Philippine Foreign Service, and culture and the arts. One of the first bills that she authored was RA 6725, entitled “Strengthening the Prohibition of Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace, Amending the Labor Code of the Philippines,” which later became a law. She was able to pursue two substantial laws: RA 8353 (redefining of the crime of rape) and RA 8505 (assistance to rape victims and their families). In the 1994 national budget debate, She introduced the mandatory annual budget allocation of 5 percent for gender and development from every department and agency of the government.

 Her concern for the fisherman’s livelihood and the preservation and development of marine resources motivated her to legislate the “Fisheries Code” (RA 8550) and the “Magna Carta for Small- and Medium-Scale Industries” (RA 6977). With her previous involvement in the foreign services, she authored the “Philippine Foreign Service Act” (RA 7157) and “The Bases Conversion and Development Act” (RA 7227). She was also the main author and principal sponsor of RA 7356 which created the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

 She did not say “Paalam” to politics after her senatorial term ended. She decided to run for the Pangasinan governorship, but lost to another candidate.

So, she is retired, at age 84. “Yes, there’s life after retirement,” she told the CCL audience. She has been speaking at numerous conferences and seminars on her advocacies. Now, she proudly said, “I am a farmer, though not a gentleman farmer in the mode of the gentlemen farmers of Bacolod.” She bought a six-hectare piece of property in Urdaneta, and developed a dairy farm. She sells her produce called Shahani’s Gatas ng Kalabaw (along with byproducts like pastillas) at the Legaspi Village weekend market.

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