At 70, Miriam still wants to serve

MANILA, Philippines – Seventy and still sexy, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago believes it is too early to retire from public service because she has a lot more to offer to the country.

Unperturbed by her low ratings in pre-election surveys, Santiago, whose term in the Senate expires in June, said she intends to stay in the presidential race despite having stage 4 lung cancer.

“This morning, I put on this dress and I looked in the mirror and I said, ‘Not bad!’” Santiago said during a roundtable discussion with editors and reporters of The STAR yesterday.

“Energy is something that is not only limited to the physical faculties. It really stems from the brain. So in my case it is the desire to remain in government service because I’m no longer qualified to run for reelection as senator. I’m graduating,” she added.

“So I was thinking, what will I do? I’m not going to retire. Retire to what? I try to keep a balance. My main concern is not my present predicament, I am in remission from cancer, but what will I do once I get over the cancer because the doctors have given me, in effect, a conditional clean bill of health,” she added.

Diagnosed with the disease in June 2014, Santiago has undergone treatment, both conventional and non-conventional, the results of which, she claims, have been remarkable.

“I am undergoing executive check ups almost every month. That is because I am on an unmarketed pill so they don’t know exactly what are the complete side effects. So I’m checked every month, if not more often, so that they will find out if I’m reacting badly or having side effects from the pill,” she said.

“The effect was almost magical because at first I was a pathetic cancer patient. I could hardly walk by myself. I kept on stumbling because I lost my sense of balance. One time I hit my head on the floor and I couldn’t organize my thoughts,” she added.

In an earlier statement, Santiago said she joined the international clinical trial to gain free access to the medication, which would otherwise cost reportedly half a million pesos every three weeks.

The trial requires Santiago to report for outpatient radiation treatment at the hospital daily.

Santiago takes pride in her list of accomplishments in all three branches of government.

“At my age of 70, I have vast experience in all three branches of government, so I was thinking, what a waste to use it as a caretaker or as a nanny for my grandkids. So I thought I would offer myself again to the Filipino people,” she said.

Santiago admitted that her ailment has taken a physical toll on her.

Instead of taking much needed rest as a cancer patient, the senator has been campaigning all over the country.  

But Santiago is not complaining and she credits her supporters for giving her the will to carry on.

“I’m very enthusiastic because the crowds are so big, you can see them on TV,” Santiago said.

The support base of Santiago is largely with the younger voters, particularly the students, the same sector that elevated her to a second place finish in the presidential elections of 1992.

With continued support from the youth, Santiago was wondering about her poor performance in pre-election surveys.

“I am wondering honestly within myself, struggling with the conflict which is the fact that the professional commercial surveys do not include me at all or include me among the cellar dwellers, but I’m always number one in every university or campus wherever it is located,” Santiago said.

“So I cannot reconcile them both. That’s why I’m hoping that in the elections, my grassroots supporters will come out,” she added.

Just like in the 1992 elections where she believed that she was a victim of electoral fraud, Santiago expressed concern about electoral cheating in the May 9 polls.

Bongbong turns to prayers

As the campaign season is heading down the home stretch, Santiago’s runningmate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said yesterday prayers helped him in sustaining his strength.

Marcos said prayers are an important component of his life because no matter how good his plans are or how noble his intentions are, he could not succeed without spiritual blessings.

“That is why it humbles us to remember that we in the end must do God’s work, especially those who are in public service,” he said.

Marcos said the prayers of his supporters and the people he meets in the campaign remind him to pursue his vision for a better future for the Philippines.

“The greatest, most noble cause is to do God’s work and that is to help our fellowmen. Those are the teachings that we have been given; those are the teachings that we should never forget,” he said. – With Rainier Allan Ronda