Eva Estrada Kalaw

Evangelina Reynaldo Estrada-Kalaw, is a Filipino politician, served as a congresswoman in the Congress of the Philippines for 7 years. (1965-1972). Serving in Congress during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos (Nationalist), she was part of a major transformation in Philippine domestic and foreign policies.

During this era of revising and strengthening the government, there was a major rise in student activism—primarily the activism was surged by the presence of governmental corruption and the US presence and dictation in the Philippines. Co-insiding with this rise of activism, was the rise of violence and communist ideology. On August 1, 1971, a bomb exploded at a Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda injuring several officials, including Senator Estrada-Kalaw. From this point, the Senator was part of a major effort to protest the newly pronounced dictatorship of Marcos, who in 1972 enacted martial law and went on to extend his presidency without limit until its eventual cessation in 1981. She continued participation in the government into the next decade. After the famous EDSA Revolution, she ran but lost in the senatorial elections.

Source: Wikipedia

During this era of revising and strengthening the government, there was a major rise in student activism--primarily the activism was surged by the presence of governmental corruption and the US presence and dictation in the Philippines. Co-insiding with this rise of activism, was the rise of violence and communist ideology. On August 1, 1971, a bomb exploded at a Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda injuring several officials, including Senator Estrada-Kalaw. From this point, the Senator was part of a major effort to protest the newly pronounced dictatorship of Marcos, who in 1972 enacted martial law and went on to extend his presidency without limit until its eventual cessation in 1981. She continued participation in the government into the next decade. After the famous Edsa Revolution, she run but lost in the senatorial elections.

A fitting tribute was given by her grandson on the occasion of the launching of her autobiography entitled A Political Journey in 2008:

"She is...a woman who believes in the necessity and unquantifiable value of quality education for all.

A woman who believes in the talent and competence of Filipino entrepreneurs and in preserving and developing the national patrimony for our people.

A woman who believes in the value of cherishing, protecting, and promoting both our intellectual and physical heritage not just for ourselves and our global neighbors but for generations to come.

A woman who believes in genuinely fulfilling the responsibilities of the highest public office in our republic — that of the office of citizen — and with upholding civic virtues. A woman who has consistently taught others by her actions to always ask what they as citizens should do first, rather than what citizenship can provide them.

A woman who believes in the sanctity of civil liberties, free speech and public discourse; and who has always strove to foster a common ground for dialogue and debate that best facilitates a politics of hope as against a politics of partisanship.

A woman who believes in our innate capacity to go beyond ourselves in creating value and being of service to others, to do more than what we ordinarily believe to be within the confines of our personal spaces, if only we had the imagination to dream and the courage to be.
And, last but not least, a woman who believes in always reaffirming the greatness of our nation, not because we aim by the benchmarks of more so-called developed countries to become a global political power or economic giant but because of the very vision our country is founded upon by those who have gone before, like her father-in-law Teodoro M. Kalaw: an educated society under God where all Filipinos can strive with their families to live with honor regardless of station in life, driven just as much not only by their individual creativity and competence but also and primarily by our orientation for caring and community cooperation that is the true meaning of the term “bayanihan.” A vision so concisely summarized in our national motto expressly mandated by law: Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan, at Makabansa."