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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider Ilonggos back monument for Miriam

Ilonggos back monument for Miriam

Published Oct 3, 2025 03:29 pm
SEN. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with graduating students of West Visayas State University (WVSU) in Iloilo City in 2014. (Tara Yap/File)
SEN. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with graduating students of West Visayas State University (WVSU) in Iloilo City in 2014. (Tara Yap/File)
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo City Council has backed the call to create a monument for the late Ilongga Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who was known as the “Iron Lady of Asia.”
Councilor Rex Marcus Sarabia sponsored a resolution urging the administration of Mayor Raisa Treñas to build a statue or monument at La Paz Plaza to celebrate the life and legacy of  Miriam.
The resolution came after social media posts calling to honor the Ilongga senator, who was a Magsaysay Award for Government Service, emerged late September.
“In a political landscape too often marked by scandal and compromise, we honor a woman whose name remains untarnished and her legacy unshaken. Miriam Defensor-Santiago did not rise through backdoor deals or padded pockets, she rose through intellect, integrity, and an unshakable spine,” said Sarabia.
“While others saw public office as a means for personal gain, she approached it as a lifelong duty to serve the Filipino people,” added Sarabia.
Born in 1945, Miriam was raised and educated in Iloilo City.
She graduated valedictorian from La Paz Elementary School and Iloilo Provincial High School (now Iloilo National High School) as well as magna cum laude from the then University of the Philippines College Iloilo (UPIC), now UP Visayas.
Miriam was the first Filipino and the first Asian to be elected as judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
One of her last public appearances in Iloilo City was months before she died in 2016. She was a presidential candidate when she visited her alma mater at UP Visayas. Miriam was accompanied by her running mate now President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

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