Having turned 98 last June, just two years short of being a centenarian, Dr.

Helena Z Benitez, fondly called Tita Helen, still continues to support her advocacies which define her life. Closest to her heart is being an educator. My definition of education is changing things for the better, so everything I do is education-related and motivated, she said. This was reflected in her persona when as early as 1948 she founded the Philippine Home Economics Association (PHEA) with the aim of promoting Home Economics not only as a profession in home management and family welfare, but also in environmental and food production concerns. Today, with the onset of environmental problems brought about by industrialization which is depleting and destroying our resources and ecological system, the home economists are called upon to address such concerns and provide mitigating solutions.

As the mother of the organization, Dr. Benitez in her address during the 2007 PHEA convention, she presented real, workable ideas and solutions to sustain the home and family in this time of global warming and climate change. In her proposal, Dr. Benitez outlined the need of creating a working group to review the Home Economics curriculum making it responsive to the challenge of global warming and climate change. We have to re-think the contents of the home economics course, she told Dr. Leticia Navarro who was then president of PHEA. She likewise urged the officers to come up with a work program and timetable so that the new home economics curriculum can be adopted by the educational system. The PHEA heeded the call and a year later, it introduced at the convention in Bohol a comprehensive, creative and innovative training modules and educational materials on climate change. Its present president, Dr. Ma. Teresa Navaro is espousing the same cause and made as one of PHEA goals to support the countrys 2015 education for sustainable development where the concern for the environment is given importance. For two years now, the organization carried out the PHEA Goes Green project which entailed the planting of endemic trees with the assistance of the

local government of Quezon City and the Office of Parks and Wildlife Development. For defending the environment long before the cause became fashionable, Dr. Benitez was cited by the Philippine Senate led by Sen. Loren Legarda who sponsored Resolution no. 786 honoring Benitez for her service to the Filipino people and acknowledging her contribution as a senator, a pioneer environmentalist, educator, advocate of culture and civic society leader. The PHEA, a creation of one of her advocacies, has after 64 years, grown and developed into a national NGO bringing together institutions, organizations and individuals to improve Home Economics education, both formal and informal. With a strong membership of 800-1,000 school teachers nationwide, the PHEA is affiliated with the American Home Economics Association, the International Federation of Home Economics and the Asian Regional Association for Home Economics.