Woman of Substance

Her timing was impeccable.

A professor, diplomat, legislator and a woman before her time, former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani passed away during a month that celebrates womanhood. For what an accomplished woman she was!

 Shahani was Secretary-General of the World Conference on the UN Decade of Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. She became the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Social and Humanitarian Affairs. She was elected senator in 1987.

Last June, I was privileged to have a conversation with her during the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Taipei. She was one of the directors of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and I was covering the event. At the time, she was already suffering from hypertension.

“Did you know,” she told me, “that Filipinos were one of the first big businessmen to invest in Taipei?” She also told some friends, I was told, that many Taiwanese first saw and rode an escalator in Manila. Shahani’s late father, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Ambassador Narciso Ramos, was once an envoy to Taipei.

Shahani was reappointed MECO director by President Duterte.

MECO chairman Lito Banayo mourned Shahani’s demise, saying,  “In the short period that I was with her in the MECO board, she was a great mentor on the nuances of the Philippines’ unique relations with Taiwan. She was also quite passionate about fostering greater cooperation in the fields of education and culture, as a result of which MECO has strengthened its capability to network with the leading academic institutions of Taiwan and linking them to our universities. We in MECO will miss her greatly.”

According to published sources, Shahani finished her elementary and secondary level education at the University of the Philippines. She finished her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and her master’s degree in Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) after defending her doctoral thesis with highest honors.

She was a former dean of the Graduate School of Lyceum of the Philippines. She taught English Literature, French, Spanish, Comparative Literature, Humanities, Social Psychology and others. She was a former member of the faculty of the University of the Philippines 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.

Shahani once told me that she had children when she had already gained a foothold in her career, and was ready to slow down. And yet she had every intention of making a comeback in her profession. I remember she told me it was a risk, because she would have lost her momentum. But it is a risk every working mother takes, and despite all her achievements, she was not going to pass up on motherhood.

I also remember that in the months leading up to the Snap elections of 1986 while her brother, then Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos was still with government, Shahani already threw her support behind then opposition bet Cory Aquino. I remember her going to the Cory Media Bureau. At the time, people said that she had more b—ls than her brother, who was seen to be playing it safe.

But it seemed the Ramoses really had b—ls, for soon after, Ramos broke away from the regime of his cousin, President Ferdinand Marcos. The EDSA Revolution broke out, and the rest is history.

Shahani was handpicked by Cory to run in her senatorial slate and her campaign had one of the most catchy jingles in recent history — “Sha Sha Sha,” to the tune of Cha Cha Cha.

Fare thee well, Ma’am, as you ride the escalator to heaven!

***

Is used water gone forever?

After you shower, does the water go down the drain forever — literally and figuratively?

Not if Manila Water can help it.

Manila Water consistently intensifies its campaign towards proper wastewater management in Metro Manila’s East Zone through its Used Water Master Plan. Used water is treated by the company so that when it is flushed down the rivers and the seas, it will be clean enough for the fish and other marine life to thrive in it. Otherwise, we will be consuming fish that drank dirty water!

According to Jeric Sevilla, corporate communications head of Manila Water, the target for the company in terms of used water services is full sewer and sanitation coverage of its entire concession area by 2037 — for all six million households Manila Water services.

To complete the used water services, Manila Water currently operates and maintains 39 sewage treatment plants (STP) and two septage treatment plants (SpTP), to ensure that used water collected from its customers is treated and cleaned before being discharged back into Metro Manila’s waterways.

With the ultimate goal of helping rehabilitate Metro Manila’s major three-river system (Marikina, San Juan and Pasig Rivers), Manila Water acknowledges that it has a gargantuan task ahead with its Used Water Master Plan, necessitating the help and cooperation of all concerned sectors. Thus, it launched the country’s first advocacy designed to promote proper used water management. “Toka Toka,” launched in 2012, encourages each individual to accomplish four simple tasks, or toka, to help revive the city’s waterways: proper solid waste management and segregation; active desludging of household septic tank every five years; connecting to existing sewer lines; and educating the community on proper wastewater management and the environment.

Currently, every city in Metro Manila’s East Zone, plus several municipalities in Rizal, has partnered with Manila Water through Toka Toka, with various programs being enforced down to the barangay level.

According to Sevilla, in Singapore, used water is actually treated till it becomes potable. In Metro Manila, for now, Manila Water is at least trying to make it clean enough for our marine life.

That means, used water doesn’t really go down the drain. It comes back to us by enriching the seas and rivers that give us life.