Filipino expats in UAE mourn death of Miriam Defensor Santiago

Filipino expats in UAE mourn death of Miriam Defensor Santiago

  DUBAI – Tributes and condolences poured in from Filipinos in the UAE after news broke that former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago died following a long bout with cancer on Thursday (September 29). Santiago was 71. “She died peacefully in her sleep this morning,” her husband, Jun Santiago, said. The announcement was also posted on her Facebook account. Santiago was confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Centre in Bonifacio Global City where she died. Santiago had been battling stage four lung cancer since 2014. Despite her condition, she ran for president in the May 2016 elections, but lost to Rodrigo Duterte. The feisty official was dubbed the “Iron Lady of Asia” for her drive against graft and corruption. "In a nation where many public officials are charged with, or suspected, of plunder, her honesty shines like a light in the darkness," her Senate biography read. Santiago served in all the three branches of the government—judicial, executive, and legislative. In 2011, she became the first Filipino and first Asian to become a judge of the International Criminal Court, a tribunal that hears cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Filipinos in UAE share tributes In Dubai, Filipinos shared their tributes to Santiago. Philippine Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes said the late senator “was a public servant who lived her words” and described her as an “excellent academic, teaching us that public servants owe it to the people and the community to be in their most excellent form”. “She inspired many to join public service not because of financial wealth but because of the wealth of experiences, wisdom, and humanity one gains as a result of serving the people,” Cortes said in a statement to ExpatMedia.Net. Danelle Ruth Palang, Director of Marketing and Communications of Dusit Thani Dubai, said Santiago “was an epitome of courage and patriotism” and praised the late senator for a life "well lived, her battles well fought". Lawyer Barney Almazar, whose company Gulf Law received a commendation letter from Santiago for “lending a hand” to Filipino workers in the UAE, said that the late senator was “the best president the Philippines never had”. Santiago 'was an inspiration' "Miriam Defensor Santiago was a public servant who lived her words—she inspired many to join public service not because of financial wealth but because of the wealth of experiences, wisdom, and humanity one gains as a result of serving the people. She was an excellent academic, teaching us that public servants owe it to the people and the community to be in their most excellent form. Thus, we in the bureaucracy and in the foreign service must aim to  continually improve ourselves by reading, studying, and analyzing political and economic events and how the Philippines and the Filipino people could benefit from it. She was chair of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Philippine Senate and in her capacity, oversaw and monitored the rise in the ranks of career foreign service officials such as myself and ensure that we are at our best when representing our motherland and our people. Anything less than great is unacceptable. She taught us that fighting the lonely battle against corruption and ineptitude (from her stint as Regional Trial Court judge, Secretary of Agrarian Reform, Immigration Commissioner, and then as a member of the esteemed legislature) does not need an army of many but simply needs the purest of souls to inspire others to wage on that lonely war. She taught us that it matters not whether she comes out victorious in this battle during her lifetime because in the greater scheme of the universe—her life blanketed in the virtues of education, excellence, honesty, and integrity transcends this finite world. In these times where financial gain appears to be the end of it all, the virtues that senator/commissioner/secretary/judge Miriam Defensor Santiago embodied live past our physical limitations and is now forever etched in the conglomeration of the eternal spirits of the universe." - Paul Raymund Cortes, Philippine Consul General - Dubai Life well lived "Former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago was an epitome of courage and patriotism. With her passing, let us be reminded that the power to pursue our dreams and heart's desires lies within us, no matter what our circumstance is. Her life was well lived, her battles well fought. No regrets, just gratefulness." - Danelle Ruth Palang, Director of Marketing and Communications, Dusit Thani Dubai   Best president the Philippines never had "Senator Santiago’s public service has been so varied and so distinguished—she has served in all three branches of the government with the highest integrity—as to make her fame secure and her absence from us a grievous public loss, especially to the overseas Filipinos who she consider as modern heroes. She was the best president the Philippines never had." - Barney Almazar, Director, Gulf 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