SENATORS unanimously passed a resolution last Tuesday night expressing the chamber’s “profound sympathies and sincere condolences” to the family of former Sen. Santanina Rasul, who passed away at 94 last November 28.
Senate President Francis Escudero led the senators in honoring Rasul, whom they described as a “trailblazer for opening doors to women and Muslims.”
Escudero said Rasul championed the cause of the women “allocating seats in local councils, unlocking doors in the military, and earmarking funds for their advocacies.
“And if hashtags had existed then, she would have made ‘#BLM — #Bangsamoro Lives Matter – her rallying cry as she sought to sway those who saw Mindanao as a distant curiosity and pigeonholed Muslims in their unfair stereotypes,” Escudero said in his sponsorship speech of Senate Resolution No. 1244.
“Senator Rasul’s story – of enduring conflict while fighting for peace, rising to power while remaining deeply grounded, and serving the people within and outside government – is truly worth remembering and emulating,” he added.
Rasul was the author of several proposed measures which became laws, including RA 6850 also known as the “Rasul Law” which granted civil service eligibility to government employees who have been in career civil service position for at least seven years, RA 7192 or the Women in Development and Nation Building Act which led to the opening of the door for women in the Philippine Military Academy.
She was also responsible for the passage of RA 6949 which declared March 8 every year as National Women’s Day, RA 7168 which elevated the Philippine Normal College to Philippine Normal University, and the provisions on women’s representation in local legislative bodies in the Local Government Code of 1991.
Escudero said: “She contributed greatly to the edifice of laws under whose canopy all men and women can pray, live, work, and love as they wish. It now falls upon us to continue the wars against ignorance and illiteracy and inclusion.”
After her stint at the Senate, Rasul became a member of the government negotiating panel that forged the signing of a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996, and established the Magbasa Kita (Let Us Read) Foundation which promoted literacy, poverty alleviation, and peace development in various places, especially in Mindanao.
Rasul was appointed as honorary ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 1990, coinciding with the International Literacy Year.
Rasul graduated valedictorian at Laum, Tabawan Elementary School, first honor at Sulu High School, and cum laude at the University of the Philippines where she earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
She also earned a master’s degree in national security administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines, and doctoral units in public administration at the UP College of Public Administration.
“On behalf of the Senate of the Philippines, I extend our deepest condolences to the family of Sen. Rasul, her loved ones, and the communities she served with dedication and compassion. May she rest in peace,” Escudero said.
