To mark the senator’s first death anniversary, a Senate resolution has been introduced to bestow upon her the country’s highest civilian award, the Quezon Service Cross.
Sponsored by Senator Sonny Angara, Senate Resolution 517 enumerates Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s 50 years of service in all three branches of the government as well as her work as a professor and a short story writer.
“As a senator, Senator Miriam had bipartisan respect and support, and this resolution in her honor will be passed in the same manner,” Angara said.
The resolution is expected to be passed unanimously by the senators, all of whom served with the late senator in her 18 years of service in the Upper House.
“She deserves the Quezon Service Cross because rare is the Filipino who had served in the judiciary, the Cabinet and the legislature, and the rarest is the one who served in all with brilliance and distinction. She was a class of her own,” the senator added.
In 2013, Senator Santiago became a judge of the International Criminal Court, making her the first Filipino and the first Asian from a developing country to hold such a seat.
“Santiago is among the country’s legal luminaries, recognized particularly as a highly esteemed expert in constitutional and international law who has earned the Philippines honor, respect and confidence from the international community,” the resolution read.
The Quezon City Cross has been awarded to only five Filipinos since its creation. Three of which were also awarded posthumously to President Ramon Magsaysay (1957), Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. (2004) and DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo in 2012.
Source: senate.gov.ph
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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