Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Wikipedia)

The quality of certificate of candidacy (COC) filers for the 2025 mid-term elections has left Rowena Guanzon yearning for the likes of Miriam Defensor-Santiago (MDS). 

"Miss ko si MDS at a time like this na may nag file ng candidacy na mga EWAN. Ambot !" Guazon, nominee of P3PWD Party-list, wrote in an X post over the weekend. 

(I miss MDS at a time like this when nobodies are filing their candidacy. I don't know!) 

Unfortunately, its been over eight years since the brilliant and feisty Santiago passed away. She died from complications of lung cancer on Sept. 29, 2016. She was 71. 

In a separate X post, Guanzon, a former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner, advised Filipino voters on who they should elect as lawmakers in May 2025. 

"Mga experto at honest na mambabatas ang kailangan sa kongreso hindi mga sanggano , kawatan at bobo," she said. 

(Congress needs experts and honest lawmakers, not gangsters, thieves or stupid people.)
 

P3PWD Party-list will vie for House seats anew next year. 

The beloved Santiago 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). 

In 1983, at the age of 38, 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. 

Santiago, a former Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service, 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.