Miriam on extended medical leave
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago has sought for an extended medical leave from the 24-member Senate where she served starting 1995, with a threeyear interruption in the 12th Congress (2001-2004).
In a letter to Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, Santiago said she continues to be on medical leave as she has been suffering from lung (left side) cancer, stage four.
She said one of medications she is taking “has produced a side effect of anoxeria (inability to eat) which renders me physically and mentally weak.”
“In any event, my staff and I shall be ready to vacate our offices (at the Senate building) by 30 June 2016. Thank you,” she said.
In June, 2014, the lady senator revealed she had a left lung cancer, stage four.
She has been on medical leave since, but she would at times appear at the Upper Chamber to do her legislative work on the Senate floor or at the Commission on Appointments (CA).
Santiago, a known constitutional expert, turns 71 on June 15. She is the current chairman of the Senate Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws Committee.
She joined the Senate in 1995 in the 10th Congress, with Sen. Edgardo J. Angara as the Senate president.
After a three-year break ending in 2004, she rejoined the Senate from the 13th Congress up to the 16th Congress which ends on June 30.
Whether she would seek another term in the Senate after a three-year break is not yet known.
Under the Constitution, a senator is allowed a consecutive two six-year terms.
She recently turned down a position as judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague.
But she courageously went into a hectic political campaign for the recent May 9 presidential elections. She, however, was not successful. The recent election was her second unsuccessful bid for the presidency.
Her vice presidential candidate was Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who is trailing Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, the administration candidate, in the partial, unofficial count.
In a privilege speech last Monday, Marcos expressed strong reservations in the congressional canvassing of the results of the vice presidential election on the basis of allegations of electoral irregularities on two fronts: on the ground level; and in the field of computer science and programming.
“Our colleague, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago warns us of now a garrison state where the authoritarian government feels free to manufacture numbers as they are needed,” Marcos said. (Mario B. Casayuran)