DFA STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF AMBASSADOR LETICIA RAMOS-SHAHANI

Leticia Ramos-Shahani: Writer, Senator, Diplomat, Patriot

The Department of Foreign Affairs mourns the passing of former senator and seasoned diplomat, Leticia Ramos-Shahani. Our thoughts and prayers are with the late Ambassador’s family and friends.

Ambassador Shahani is the epitome of a world class Filipina—strong, intelligent, accomplished, and one who was always passionate about the Philippines.

She had relentlessly worked to uphold the Philippines’ national interest in the global community in the years that she had served the Department of Foreign Affairs as well as the United Nations.   She began her five-year tour of duty in 1981 as the first female Philippine Ambassador to Australia; the Secretary-General of the World Conference on the UN Decade of Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985; and the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Social and Humanitarian Affairs. She joined the Philippine Senate in 1987 after her stint in the United Nations.

In the Philippine Senate, Ambassador Shahani was at the helm of various committees such as the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Education, Culture, and Arts, and Committee on Agriculture. She was a member of the Commission on Appointments.

In the midst of all her accomplishments, Ambassador Shahani nurtured a deep passion for literature. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and went on to pursue her master’s degree in Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. She finished her Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature with the highest honors.