Former senator Eva Estrada Kalaw passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday, May 25. She was a leading political opposition leader during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos.
Eva Estrada was among the few female students of the Commonwealth era who dared enroll in the University of the Philippines, which was then based in Manila. Her enrollment in UP was a daring feat because back then, Catholic high schools for girls discouraged their graduates from enrolling in UP on the mistaken assumption that UP is a godless institution.
She was a member of the Sigma Delta Phi, an exclusive sorority and the counterpart of the equally exclusive Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.