Helena Benitez, veteran educator, senator; 102

Former Sen. Helena Benitez poses by the ancient piano of the ancestral Benitez home. FILE PHOTO

VETERAN educator and former Sen. Helena Benitez, chair of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) and matriarch of the Benitez clan, has passed away at the age of 102.

Several industry sources on Thursday confirmed the demise of Benitez, who had just celebrated her birthday on June 27.

Benitez served as senator from 1968 to 1972, and authored or coauthored laws on education, manpower and youth development, family, housing, and the environment. She received numerous citations and awards from  government and nongovernment agencies for her contribution to education, women’s concerns, environment and habitat, civic and church activities, and international affairs.

Until the end, she was considered the bedrock of the Benitez family amid the challenges posed by several business setbacks.   In recent years, the family crown jewel PWU faced foreclosure proceedings initiated by the Tanco family-led STI Group.

The row was resolved when the PWU and STI groups entered into an amicable settlement deal, under which the Benitez family would retain control of PWU while ceding to STI certain assets, including the 1.5-hectare land along Edsa in Quezon City where PWU’s basic education arm, the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, currently operates.

STI got a separate 4-ha property in Davao while PWU retained its Manila campuses on Taft Avenue and Indiana Street in Manila.