Rest in peace, Senator Miriam
Even as Filipinos are not sober yet on the recent uproar at the Senate regarding the continuous probe on the illegal drug trade, a new emotion has taken form when everyone woke up to a heart-breaking news of former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s death yesterday morning that flooded social networking sites. The news had even probably roused everyone from sleep better than an alarm clock does.
The news of her passing away was announced by Senator Grace Poe during the hearing on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, who asked for a moment of silence to pray for Santiago’s soul.
At the age of 71, the well-respected senator who has earned the trust, respect, and admiration of the Filipino people through her fearlessness, bravery, brilliance and incomparable intelligence and passion to serve the Filipino, had reportedly passed away around 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
Her death came just weeks after she was brought to the hospital after suffering complications. Santiago had first announced that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer on July 2, 2014 but later went on with her declaration of seeking the presidency for the third time a year after having supposedly conquering cancer.
Filipinos have all the reasons to mourn as the former senator is often cited to be a big loss and even a pillar of the Philippine justice system.
Santiago was able to serve all the three branches of the government. She was once a presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, an immigration commissioner, agrarian reform secretary, and a senator for three terms and was known to have filed the most number of bills in the Senate.
Santiago was also the first Filipino to be elected as judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is based in the Netherlands in 2011. She had also won the Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 1998, an Asian equivalent title of the Nobel Prize. What she had achieved in this lifetime could not even be summed up in words. The whole country is mourning. But even as we mourn, we remember.
We remember how she had fearlessly fought for what is right for the country and the Filipino people.
May her life be a living example to all of us, especially those who are currently in the position to serve the country. We can never have another Miriam Santiago but we can always choose to be better and to be right for the benefit of the country just like what she did.
Feisty, witty, esteemed senator, brave, the walking law dictionary and encyclopedia, and the walking Philippine constitution. These are just among the words associated with the late senator. She had surely spent a well-lived life. Let us too, in our own way. Rest in peace, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.