Miriam laid to rest

MANILA, Philippines – Thousands of mourners paid their final tributes to former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday.

Supporters showed up with some wearing red shirts as Santiago was laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

Santiago was buried beside her son Alexander Robert, who died in 2003.

Santiago was given a 21-gun salute by the police after the funeral blessing delivered by Fr. Aris Sison, the rector of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City.

Chanting “Miriam,” supporters released doves and 71 white balloons into the sky.

Her remains were brought to Marikina in a 60-car convoy from the Immaculate Conception, where the funeral Mass was held.

The funeral mass was attended by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,
Santiago’s running-mate in the May presidential elections. His mother, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos also attended the funeral.

Presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo and actress Heart Evangelista, wife of Sen. Francis Escudero, were also present during the mass.

The late senator’s younger sister Len expressed gratitude to her doctors, supporters, and youth volunteers during the mass.

President Duterte visits the wake of former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City early yesterday.

President Duterte went to the wake to pay his last respects to the late senator early yesterday.

Duterte did not give any statement but gave his sympathies to former interior undersecretary Narciso Santiago, the husband of the late senator, as well as to former Armed Forces chief Benjamin Defensor, the senator’s favorite brother.

Duterte then sat beside Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos for a chat.

‘A fighter’

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani led the homily and described Santiago as a “princess for the hearts of Filipinos.”

Bacani recalled three of the four creeds of Santiago delivered in a speech during her stint at the Department of Agrarian Reform.

These creeds, Bacani said, were what Santiago always fought for: her belief in God, that God is good, and that the good will always be victorious in the end.

“We know, like Miriam, that it is the good that will win at the end. That the victory of evil can be at most temporary and indeed can be very short and that even the most powerful of tyrants can be overthrown. That is why we can only use good and fair means in order to win our battles for the Lord,” Bacani said.

Bacani said Santiago is a reminder to all Filipinos that one can still be a lady who does not use crass and gutter language even while fighting.

“She was a fighter, she wanted to fight for the good … but even when she spoke vitriol against her opponents, she did not drive you to the gutters; she sent you instead to the dictionary or to Google, to find out the meaning of her words,” Bacani said during the homily.

Santiago succumbed to cancer on Thursday while confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig. She was 71.

Santiago served three terms at the Senate and was also elected as judge of the International Criminal Court, a position that she had to turn down because of her illness.

She also served as agrarian reform secretary and commissioner of then Bureau of Immigration and Deportation in 1989.

The Senate, for its part, is expected to pass today a resolution citing the Santiago’s invaluable contribution to the country.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, one of the authors of the resolution, said he expects all of his colleagues to sponsor the measure today.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III led the eulogies for Santiago on Saturday night at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral and gave a copy of the resolution to the widower Narciso.

Pimentel remembered Santiago as his professor on constitutional law at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

“Her example will inspire not only more patriotic Filipino women to go into public service, but countless more of our young who have looked up to her as our moral compass,” Pimentel said.

He described Santiago as the “best president our nation never had.”

Aside from the May elections, Santiago had unsuccessful presidential attempts in 1992 and in 1998. – With Giovanni Nilles, Paolo Romero