The House of Representatives approved on second reading Wednesday afternoon, March 15 a bill that would rename two roads in Quezon City after the late former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Approved after the conduct of a simple voice vote (ayes vs. nayes) during plenary session was House Bill (HB) No.7413.

Deputy Speaker and Antipolo City 1st district Rep. Roberto Puno declared the measure’s penultimate passage after the ayes drowned out the nayes.

The full title of the bill reads, "An Act renaming the Agham Road and the BIR Road, stretching from North Avenue, traversing through Quezon Avenue, UP to East Avenue, all located in Quezon City, as Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue".

The measure was originally filed in the 19th Congress as HB No.6576. Isabela 1st district Rep. Tonypet Albano, Quezon City 1st district Rep. Arjo Atayde and Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo were the principal authors.

Renaming the two roads as Defensor-Santiago Avenue “is a fitting recognition of her remarkable efforts and contributions that benefited the Filipinos and the nation as a whole", the lawmakers said in their bill.

They described Santiago as “a brilliant legal luminary who lived a life dedicated to public service".

They noted that in 1983, Santiago became the youngest presiding judge in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City and gained a reputation for strict impartiality in applying the law.

“She brought honor and pride to the country by being the very first Filipino and first Asian in the United Nations (UN) to be elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC),” HB No.6576 stated.

As a three-term senator, Santiago was "known for her unquestionable integrity and her crusade against corruption", the authors said.

“For her courage and moral leadership, Defensor-Santiago received the Magsaysay Award for Government Service, an award that is known as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. She was likewise the only woman recipient of the Philippines’ highest national honor, the Quezon Service Cross,” they said.

Santiago, the authors said, also earned several titles such as incorruptible lady, the dragon lady, the iron lady of Asia, among others and “her excellence in public service helped regain the people’s trust and confidence in the government".

Santiago also served as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

She ran for president of the Philippines during the memorable 1992 national elections where she put on a strong performance. She made another bid for the Palace seat in the 2016 polls, with then-Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as her running mate.

Santiago died from complications of lung cancer on Sept. 29, 2016. She was 71.