GE 9

LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF RIZAL

FINAL PROJECT
1st Semester
S.Y. 2020-2021

Biography of

Sentor Miriam Defensor

Santiago SUBMITTED BY:

JENY ROSE QUIROG
BSEd-English 3-1 Student

SUBMITTED TO:
MS. GEMMA LABE
Instructor
 Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is a Filipina
academic, lawyer, judge, author, politician,
professor, and public servant who served in all
three branches of the Philippine government:
judicial, executive, and legislative. Miriam takes
her job very seriously, and has a high value for
respecting the government system. This is why
she has not had any major issues regarding
bribery and corruption. She always encourages
people to respect the system of governance in
the country, no matter how corrupt it may
appear, because it is this system that keeps the
country from falling apart.

SEN. MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

1938-1988

Modern-day Rizal
 On 15th of June, 1945, Miriam
All about Miriam
Defensor Santiago, the most
remarkable woman set a foot in this
world in Iloilo City, to Benjamin Defensor,
a local judge, and Dimpna Palma, a
college dean. She was diagnosed by a
lung cancer and died on September 29,
2016.
Defensor Santiago grew up in a
middle-class erudite household with
both parents having higher educational
attainments. She is the eldest among
her siblings: Benjamin, Nenalyn, Linn,
and Paula Dimpna Beatriz. She was
married to Narciso "Jun" Santiago Jr.,
with whom she had two sons, Narciso III
(Archie) and Alexander (A.R.);
Alexander committed suicide in 2003.
The couple adopted four children;
Megan Santiago, Mallory Santiago,
Mackenzie Santiago, and Morven
Santiago. She and her husband
renewed their wedding vows on their
40th wedding anniversary in 2011. She
has close relationships with actress and Miriam’s Background Profile
visual artist, Heart Evangelista, who she
has mentored.
 She graduated valedictorian in grade school, high school, undergraduate school. She
graduated high school in Iloilo Provincial High School (now Iloilo National High School) and served
as the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the said high school's student publication "The Ilonggo". In 1965,
Defensor Santiago graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, magna cum
laude from the University of the Philippines Visayas. After graduation, she was elected to the Pi
Gamma Mu and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
She proceeded to the University of the Philippines College of Law. There, she was champion
in numerous oratorical contests and debates. She became the first female editor of the student
newspaper, The Philippine Collegian, and was twice appointed ROTC muse. She graduated
Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines College of Law in Diliman.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Defensor Santiago went on a fellowship to the United States, and earned the Master of
Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She
finished both degrees in a period of only one and a half years. Following school, she took a
position as special assistant to the Secretary of Justice. She also taught political science at the
Trinity University of Asia. She was law professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman,
teaching evening classes for some ten years.
She has studied at several universities, including Oxford and Harvard law summer schools;
Cambridge; and The Hague Academy of International Law. She earned the degree Master of
Religious Studies (without thesis) at the Maryhill School of Theology.
In Oxford, she was a research fellow at St. Hilda's College and also took a summer program
in law at St. Edmund's Hall. At Cambridge, she was a research fellow at the Lauterpacht
Research Centre for International Law.
Department of Justice: She became a special assistant to the Secretary of Justice for ten years
after her higher studies abroad. At a young age, she became a legal officer to the United
Nations afterwards due to her constitutional and international law knowledge and experience
United Nations: Defensor Santiago served as Legal Officer of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees at Geneva, Switzerland. She was assigned to the Conferences and Treaties Section.
She became skilled at treaty negotiation and drafting.
Judge during martial law: Defensor Santiago was appointed judge of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) of Quezon City, Metro Manila by President Ferdinand Marcos. She was the youngest judge
appointed to Metro Manila, and exempted from the practice of first serving as a judge outside
Metro Manila

CAREER
Immigration Commissioner: After martial law, in 1988, President Corazon Aquino appointed
Defensor Santiago as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation.[1] At that
time, the BID was one of the most corrupt government agencies in Southeast Asia. Defensor
Santiago declared the Philippines as "the fake passport capital of the world", and directed raids
against criminal syndicates, including the Yakuza.
Agrarian Reform Secretary: President Corazon Aquino promoted Defensor Santiago to member
of her cabinet, as Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
Senator: Defensor Santiago was first elected senator in 1995. In 1997, her presidential rival Fidel
Ramos initiated a "people's campaign" for an infinite presidential term.
 Dr. Santiago holds an amazing record of excellence in all three branches of government – judicial,
executive, and legislative. In the judicial branch, she has been presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court at
Quezon City. In the executive branch, she has been immigration commissioner; and a cabinet member, as
agrarian reform secretary. In the legislative branch, she has now been a senator for three terms.

In all three branches of government, she has been showered with awards for being outstanding, making
her the most awarded public official in our country today. For example, she has received awards such as The
Outstanding Young Men, or TOYM; The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service, or TOWNS; and Most
Outstanding Alumna in Law from U.P.

Dr. Santiago was a U.P. law professor for some 10 years, teaching evening class after office hours. She
has written some 30 books, many of which are very scholarly textbooks in law and the social sciences, well
advanced of our time. During her initial battle with cancer, she continued to work on the 2014 edition of all
her law books.

WORK EXPERIENCE
She is considered the leading expert of her generation in constitutional law and in international law. Dr.
Santiago worked abroad. She served as legal officer of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. She also
served as a consultant of the Philippine embassy in Washington, D.C.

In the Philippine Senate where Dr. Santiago is on her third term, she has filed the highest number of bills,
and authored some of the most important laws. Some of her most important pending bills are: anti-dynasty
bill; an act institutionalizing an age appropriate curriculum to prevent the abduction, exploitation, and
sexual abuse of children; anti-epal bill; freedom of information bill; and magna carta for Philippine internet
freedom. She has been fearless in exposing and naming notorious criminal suspects in legislative
investigations, particularly in naming drug lords and illegal logging lords.
 Global Fame

She earned the degree, Doctor of Juridical Science, in the United States. Dr. Miriam Defensor Santiago is
a globally famous personality, because of her legal brilliance and courageous example in fighting corruption.
In a nation where many public officials are charged with, or suspected, of plunder, her honesty shines like a
light in the darkness.

She has brought honor to the Philippines in several ways. She is the first Filipino and the first Asian from a
developing country, to be elected in the United Nations as judge of the International Criminal Court. The ICC
hears cases against heads of state. Thus, she put the Philippines on the global map in the 21st century.
Unfortunately, grave illness forced her to waive the privilege of being an ICC judge.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Academic Excellence

Dr. Santiago is one of the most intellectually brilliant leaders that our country has ever seen. She earned
the degrees Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude; and Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the University of the
Philippines. She went abroad and earned the graduate degrees of Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical
Science, from the University of Michigan, one of the top three law schools in the United States. She finished
the academic requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Religious Studies, at the Maryhill School of
Theology.

Professional Excellence

Dr. Santiago holds an amazing record of excellence in all three branches of government – judicial,
executive, and legislative. In the judicial branch, she has been presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court at
Quezon City. In the executive branch, she has been immigration commissioner; and a cabinet member, as
agrarian reform secretary. In the legislative branch, she has now been a senator for three terms.
Unquestioned Honesty
It was Senator Santiago who in effect started the national plunder investigation (which is now a historic
scandal). In December 2012 she revealed that the senate president had used Senate funds to give away
cash gifts. Every senator received P2 million as a Christmas gift, taken from public funds, except Senator
Santiago and two others. That scandal led to the notorious pork barrel scandal, for which the senate
president is now suspended and in jail, having been charged with plunder by the Ombudsman.
She is a renowned celebrity. Like a rock star, she attracts crowds everywhere. She is the most sought-
after guest speaker of university students. Sen. Santiago is a woman of destiny. She will be remembered in
Philippine history as a genuine hero of her people.
She has been called the incorruptible lady, the platinum lady, the tiger lady, the dragon lady, the iron
lady of Asia, the queen of popularity polls, and the undisputed campus hero. But to her millions of fans, she is
best known for the unique brand of charismatic leadership that media likes to call “Miriam Magic.”

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Miriam was widely featured in the international press because of her charisma, flamboyant personality,
and her signature witticisms, making her good copy. In 1997, the Australian magazine named her one of "The
100 Most Powerful Women in the World." In later years,Miriam was keynote speaker of the international
anticorruption conference in Sydney, Australia. As senator, she sponsored and secured ratification by the
Philippine Senate of the UN Convention Against Corruption.
She was featured by TIME, The Economist, New York Times, Washington Post, and International Herald
Tribune, among others. She graced dozens of magazine covers. They tried to capture her colorful personality
with such accolades as: the incorruptible lady, the iron lady of Asia, the dragon lady, the platinum lady, and
the undisputed campus heroine. Her intense and passionate orations against corruption captured the public
imagination. On the invitation of universities and civic groups, she began a hectic nationwide speaking tour
that would continue for at least one decade.
• Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, 1988, Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize,
Magsaysay Awards Foundation

• TOYM Award for Law, 1985 (The Outstanding Young Men) Opened to Women 1984, Philippine Jaycees

• TOWNS Award for Law, 1986 (The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service), Philippine Lions

• Philippine Judges' Hall of Fame, 2015, Philippine Judges Association

• Most Outstanding Alumna in Law, University of the Philippines, 1988

• Gold Vision Triangle Award for government service, 1988, YMCA Philippines

• Republic Anniversary Award for law enforcement, 1988, Civic Assembly of Women of the Philippines

AWARDS AND HONORS

• Golden Jubilee Achievement Award for public service, 1990, Girl Scouts of the Philippines

• Celebrity Mother Award, 1991, Gintong Ina Awards Foundation

• Spain – Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (30 November 2007)

• Distinguished Icon of Legal Excellence and Public Service Award (2 September 2016)

• PUP Online Personality of the Year 2016

• Quezon Service Cross - (3 December 2018, Posthumous)

 Defensor Santiago wrote at least 30 books, many of which are about law and
social sciences. Among her works is the Code Annotated Series Project 2000, a series of
books about laws passed by the Philippine Congress and Supreme Court decisions. The
Code Annotated Series is the main part of Defensor Santiago's Legal Outreach Program.
During her initial battle with cancer, she continued to work on the 2014 edition of all her
law books. These were published as the 2015 edition of her Code Annotated Series, by
Rex Bookstore.

WRITINGS

The doctoral dissertation she wrote for the University of Michigan was published as a
book, Political Offences in International Law. She wrote two autobiographies, Inventing
Myself and Cutting Edge: The Politics of Reform in the Philippines, the latter being praised
by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

She published a joke book in 2014, Stupid is Forever, a collection of jokes,

comebacks, one-liners, and pick-up lines she used in speeches. A sequel, titled Stupid is
Forevermore, was published a year later. Both books were published by ABS-CBN
Publishing. The first book was named the best-selling book of 2014, selling about 110,000
copies in one month.
 Top Reasons why
Miriam Defensor
Santiago is
1. Miriam Santiago is the first ever Filipino to
become a judge of the International Criminal
Court. Extraordinary
2. She is among the most significant and
respectable members of the Philippine Senate.
3. Her stand for integrity and justice in
government service in unmatchable.
4. She is the woman senator with the longest
term in Philippine history.
5. She has excelled in almost every area of her
career since she was a child.
6. She is among the few ones who does not
allow corrupt practices in the Senate.
7. She has an extensive private and public
SOURCES
career that has always been excellent in rating. https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1643/t
oday-in-philippine-history-june-15-1945-miriam-
8. She is among the few senators who has written defensor-santiago-was-born-in-the-city-of-iloilo
and co-written the most number of bills and acts. http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen_bio/sant
9. She wrote the most number of bills during her iago_bio.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Defensor_Sant
first term as a senator. iago#:~:text=Defensor%20Santiago%20wrote%20at
10. She is outspoken and bold, and always fights %20least,Congress%20and%20Supreme%20Court%
for justice and truth. 20decisions.