Former senator Santanina Rasul, 94

MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Santanina Tillah Rasul, who was the country’s first Muslim woman elected to the Senate, passed away at age of 94, her daughter announced on social media.

“Mama left us peacefully last night and has returned to Allah,” Rasul’s daughter, Amina, said in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon.

“We will bring her to the Blue Mosque in Taguig tomorrow noon, awaiting my brothers coming home from the US. We will fly her to Jolo where she will lie beside Papa,” she added.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman expressed his condolences for Rasul’s passing.

“Si Sen. Rasul ay naging isang tapat na lingkod-bayan. Isinulong niya ang mga batas na nagtaguyod sa karapatan ng mga Muslim at mga kababaihan na nagbigay-daan sa kanilang mas aktibong partisipasyon sa iba’t ibang larangan,” Hataman said in a Facebook post, Hataman said

(Sen. Rasul was an honest public servant. She pushed for laws that asserted the rights of Muslims and women that gave way to their more active participation in different fields.)

“Lubos kaming nagpapasalamat sa kanyang paglilingkod at mga nai-ambag sa ating bansa. Ang kanyang legacy ay mananatiling buhay sa puso ng bawat Pilipino. Nakikiramay kami sa kanyang mga kaanak at kaibigan sa kanyang pagpanaw,” he added.

(We thank her for her service and her contributions to the country. Her legacy will remain alive in the heart of every Filipino. We express our condolences to her relatives and friends for her passing.)

Born on September 14, 1930 in Sulu, Rasul had an extensive history in public service, beginning as a public school teacher in Sulu from 1952 to 1957 then a technical assistant to the Office of the President of the Philippines from 1963 to 1964.

Rasul entered politics in 1960 and was elected barrio councilor in Jolo, Sulu.

She was an elected member of the Provincial Board of Sulu from 1971 to 1976, then represented Muslim and other ethnic minorities at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports as a commissioner from 1978 to 1987 and as a member in 1986.

Rasul became honorary ambassador of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for its International Literacy Year in 1990.

She served as senator from 1987 to 1995, authoring eight laws as chairperson of the Senate committee on women and family relations; as well as the committee on civil service and government recognition.

According to Hataman, Rasul was instrumental in passing the Women in Development and Nation-Building Act, saying it “opened doors” for women to join the military and receive aid for their programs.

The Basilan representative added that Rasul also played a key role in the declaration of National Women’s Day in the Philippines every March 8.

Prior to her career in public service, Rasul had a stellar background in academics.

She graduated top of her class at her elementary school in Tawi-Tawi in 1941 and her secondary school in Sulu in 1948.

Rasul finished her bachelor’s degree in political science with honors at the University of the Philippines in 1952; then her master’s degree in national security administration at the National Defense College of the Philippines in 1976.

She also took up doctoral units in public administration at UP in 1978.

She was married to former Ambassador Abraham Rasul and had six children.

In her Facebook post, Amina Rasul-Bernardo said: “ For all our friends who wish to send flowers, do contribute instead to a scholarship fund that we will raise in her name for the young of our indigenous communities, especially those from Muslim Mindanao.”

She specifically pointed to the Magbassa Kita Foundation, a non-profit advocating poverty alleviation, literacy and peace in Mindanao.