SENATOR Miriam Defensor-Santiago was laid to rest Sunday afternoon at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.
Santiago, who died in her sleep on Sept. 29 at the age of 71, after battling Stage-4 lung cancer for more than two years, was given a 21-gun salute before she was buried beside her son Alexander who died in 2003.
Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani hailed her for championing the good but refusing to use evil means to stamp out evil.
President Rodrigo Duterte paid his final respects to her at dawn, arriving at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Grottoes in Cubao, Quezon City, at 1 a.m.
Thousands of mourners also came to pay their final respects to Santiago at the Loyola Memorial Park.
Supporters, politicians, friends and relatives came to see her final wake at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.
Len Defensor, Miriam’s sister, thanked the senator’s family, doctors, staff and supporters who stood beside her until her death.
The supporters of Santiago, who was also known as the”Iron Lady of Asia,” released doves and white balloons into the sky.
In his homily during the funeral mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Bacani described the late senator as “the fighter for the good.”
“And she would use only good means to fight evil because she did not want to side with evil… She understood that evil only reaped short-lived gains and led to the ruin of even the most powerful tyrants,” Bacani said.
“That is why we are one with her. We know, like Miriam, that it is good that will win in the end. That is why we can only use good and fair means in order to win our battles.”
Bacani said Santiago never resorted to profanity when lashing at her enemies.
“She fought with her lips, yes. But when she fought with her lips, even when she spoke against her opponents, she did not drive you to the gutter,” Bacani said.
“She sent you instead to the dictionary or to Google to find out the meaning of her words, which were very refined although sometimes cutting.”
Bacani also praised Santiago’s record as a graft-buster. She sometimes threatened politicians with jail but she never threatened to kill anybody.
“While Miriam prosecuted people sometimes very fiercely, she always wanted that the process should be fair,” Bacani said.
He implored Santiago to sleep in peace but to pray for the country.
“Our country, as you very well know, needs much more correcting and reforming. What you have not been able to finish in life, please help us when you stand at the side of Lord Jesus in Heaven,” Bacani said. With Sandy Araneta and Rio N. Araja