VP Duterte cites ex-Senator Santiago's legacy; 'strong-willed in facing adversity'
Vice President Sara Duterte shared that she learned to be a strong government official despite the adversities thrown her way from the late former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, whose sixth death anniversary was commemorated on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Known as Asia’s “Iron Lady,” the former senator and judge succumbed to lung cancer, months after running and losing in the 2016 presidential elections.
Duterte remembered Santiago’s legacy of being strong-willed and showing how things can be done righteously.
“To be always strong inspite of adversity so yun yung hinahangaan ko talaga sa kanya (that’s what I admire about her),” the official said of the late senator, who ran and lost to her father in 2016.
Santiago also ran but lost in the 1992 presidential elections.
The Vice President shared that for her, the senator showed how one can become a “strong government leader.”
Returning from her official trip to Japan, Duterte attended the commemoration of Santiago’s 6th death anniversary at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.
“She showed how to be a strong government leader and she showed us that things can be done if you just follow what is right and just sa pagtatrabaho mo sa gobyerno (in your work in government),” Duterte said.

Santiago is considered one of the most brilliant minds in Philippine politics, earning her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, and Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines (UP).
She earned her Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridicial Science from the University of Michigan, and did postdoctoral studies in Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, and Academy of Public International Law at the Peace Palace.
She was 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.