“Senator Miriam [Santiago] was a hero to many of us fighting her way through man’s world,” Gov. Imee Marcos said.
Ilocanos expressed their grief over the death of Santiago of lung cancer.
On her Facebook page, Marcos thanked Santiago for her love and concern for the country and the Ilocanos.
“Thank you, Senator Miriam, from all of us here in Ilocos Norte. Your love for our country and to all the Ilocanos is unparalleled.”
The governor described Santiago as “fiercely intelligent and totally fearless.”
She also considers the late senator a hero for fighting for the Filipino people.
Santiago’s former running mate in the presidential elections, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also said in a Facebook post that “words cannot begin to express the deep sadness that not only I and my family but the entire country feels at the devastatingly sad news of Sen. Miriam’s passing.”
“She leaves the world less wise, less bright and sadder,” he said, remembering that Santiago was always his seatmate in the Senate.
For Ilocano architect Mel Cristobal, Santiago is a great loss for the country.
“I always believe that she was one of the few honest, credible and smartest politicians we had,” Cristobal said.
Remembering the late senator when she visited the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac City on her election campaign, student Iris Layoen said Santiago “will always be remembered for her witty yet meaningful pickup lines.”
“We lost a person whose advocacy is to straighten out the unlawful systems in the government. She had that kind of strength. She had a great role in government reformation. But now we lost her, whom I consider the mother of justice,” Jake Abragar, a public elementary teacher said.