“I HAVE no illusions about myself, about my life, about leaving a legacy or making a mark in people’s lives,” Miriam Defensor-Santiago said once.
“We are so insignificant. We are only here for a blink,” added the feisty senator who died at the St. Luke’s Medical in Taguig City on Thursday after battling lung cancer for more than two years. She was 71.
Her husband, former Customs Deputy Commissioner Narcisco Santiago Jr., said she died at 8:52 a.m.
“She died peacefully in her sleep. That is all I want to remember,” Narciso said.
He said his wife’s last words were “I accept this, I do not want to do anything heroic.”
President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his condolences.
“Senator Santiago has left a sterling career in public office. She is best remembered as a graft buster eating death threats for breakfast,” Duterte said.
“Rest in peace, Madam Senator. May your legacy continue to guide this nation for many years to come.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon said Santiago was an intellectual giant and a legal luminary.
Said Philippine Constitution Association president Martin Romualdez: “Senator Santiago is a beacon of wisdom and intelligence that made Philippine politics more colorful and lively. She will be remembered for leading an honorable life and championing good governance.”
Romualdez’ wife, Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, also sent her condolences, as did former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Rep. Raneo Abu, Reps. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Prospero Nograles, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate.
Santiago’s remains will be transferred to the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City, tonight.
Her daughter-in-law Mechel Santiago posted this message on Facebook: “Ma, you will no longer be suffering now. You are now with the Lord. Thank you for loving us, your family and our country.”
Santiago is survived by her husband and her son, Narciso Santiago III. Her youngest son, Alexander Robert, died in 2003.
Santiago announced she was diagnosed with Stage- 4 lung cancer in June 2014. She then went on a medical leave from the Senate for treatment, including the use of a “miracle drug.”
When she filed her Certificate of Candidacy for President in October last year, the senator said she had gone over the hump but admitted she still had lingering “cancer symptoms” like her crackling and soft voice. She had Marcos as her running mate.
Santiago also said she joined the international clinical trial to gain free access to the miracle drug, which would otherwise cost half a million pesos every three weeks.
Despite her illness, the senator delivered speeches in several universities around the country, banking on her popularity among the youth to boost her presidential bid in the May elections.
Santiago served the Senate for three terms or 18 years: from 1995 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2016. She also ran for president three times: in 1992 and in 1998. She authored the most number of laws and bills in the entire history of the Philippines.
She served all three branches of the Philippine government: the judicial, executive and legislative. The schools she attended included the University of the Philippines, University of Michigan, Oxford University, Maryhill School of Theology, University of California, Harvard University and Cambridge University. With John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz