Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago greets supporters during a campaign event at the University if Perpetual Help University in Biñan, Laguna on March 1. Santiago consistently topped a number of student-led election surveys organized in major universities around the country.(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senators on Thursday joined in mourning the death of former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, with most of them hailing her as one of the greatest public servants.
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, a student of Santiago in the UP College of Law, said he owes his legal knowledge to the late senator.
“I would always intently listen to her when she would speak in the Senate on constitutional and international law matters. I did not always agree with her position but I always learned from her arguments,” Pimentel said.
“I’m saddened by her passing, saddened more by the fact that I wasn’t able to visit her during her last days with us,” he added.
In a statement, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon said “there is no senator, past or present, who can match Senator Santiago’s uncommon brilliance and fiery dedication to her principles and beliefs.”
“She was an intellectual giant and a legal luminary whose wit and words benefited this nation and its people so many times over. She’s a loss to the country. She will remain an inspiration to all of us,” Drilon said.
Drilon and Santiago were classmates in the University of the Philippines-Iloilo College and the UP College of Law, from 1961 to 1969.
Upon learning the news in separate public hearings, Senators Grace Poe and Risa Hontiveros offered a moment of silence for Santiago.
Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public information holding a hearing on the freedom of information (FOI) bill, said she dedicates the measures to her “courageous colleague” Santiago.
“This bill is also dedicated to her. And hopefully we also pass it in her memory,” Poe said, as she recalled one of her sleepless nights preparing for an interpellation with the feisty senator.
Hontiveros, for her part, briefly interrupted the budget hearing on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and informed the Senate finance committee of Santiago’s death.
Senator Ralph Recto said Santiago “set the benchmark in clarity of thought and convincing discourse.”
“On her worst day when cancer had already invaded her brain, she was still sharper than any of us, displaying an acumen that was hard to defeat,” Recto said.
“Senator Miriam was one of a kind. And we are lucky that like a meteor that streaks across our skies once every century, we were able to witness her dazzling brilliance during our lifetime,” he added.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, who were once political rivals with Santiago, said that while he was not the “best of friends” with the late senator, she will be remembered as “passionate, articulate and a renowned constitutionalist.”
On his Twitter account, Senator Francis Escudero extended his condolences to Santiago’s husband, lawyer Narciso “Jun” Santiago Jr., and hailed Miriam as “one of the greatest.”
Also on Twitter, Senator Gregorio Honasan said Santiago “leaves behind footprints in our public lives that will be hard to follow.”
Senator Sonny Angara, for his part, said the “country lost a patriot and much admired public servant.”
“I am saddened to know that Miriam will now be debating with a much greater body than the Philippine Senate,” Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said.
Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito said it was a “very sad day,” recognizing Santiago as “one of the fiercest, smartest, and colorful lady legislators.”
Senator Joel Villanueva said he was “out of words” to express gratitude to Santiago’s public service.
“A notable woman who have served all three branches of the government, Senator Miriam Santiago was a great patriot who dedicated her life to serving the country,” Villannueva said.
Senator Leila de Lima hailed Santiago as a “respected institution” not only in the country but in the international community as well.
“She is known across all spectrums of society for her courage, legal expertise, and her sterling career in public service. She won the hearts and inspired the Filipino people through her spirit and fiery rhetoric— and through her ability to relate to them on a fundamental, deeply personal level,” De Lima said.
“In the midst of the political crisis that we have been experiencing as of late, her death is a sobering reminder that while our time on earth is fleeting, our service to our countrymen is eternal,” De Lima added.
Santiago, 71, succumbed to cancer on Thursday morning, her husband said. “She died peacefully in her sleep this morning,” he said.
The former lawmaker passed away while confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City. She divulged in 2014 that she had stage 4 lung cancer. (MNS)