In this Philippine name for married women, the birth middle name or maternal family
name is Palma, the birth surname or paternal family name is Defensor, and the marital
name is Santiago.
Miriam Defensor Santiago
GCS, QSC
Senator of the Philippines
In office
June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2016
In office
June 30, 1995 – June 30, 2001
Judge of the International Criminal Court
In office
December 12, 2012 – June 3, 2014
Nominated by Philippines
Succeeded by Raul Pangalangan
Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
In office
July 22, 2013 – June 30, 2016
Preceded by Loren Legarda
Succeeded by Alan Peter Cayetano
Secretary of Agrarian Reform
In office
July 20, 1989 – January 4, 1990
President Corazon Aquino
Preceded by Philip Juico
Succeeded by Florencio Abad
Personal details
Born Miriam Palma Defensor
June 15, 1945
Iloilo City, Philippines
Died September 29, 2016 (aged 71)
Taguig, Philippines
Political party People's Reform Party
Other political Nacionalista (2010)
affiliations
Narciso Santiago
Spouse(s)
m. 1971)
Children Narciso D. Santiago III Alexander D. Santiago
Education University of the Philippines Visayas (BA)
University of the Philippines Diliman (LLB)
University of Michigan (LLM, SJD)
Maryhill School of Theology (MA)
Website Official website
Miriam Defensor Santiago QSC (born Miriam Palma Defensor; June 15, 1945 – September 29,
2016) was a Filipina academic, lawyer, judge, author, and stateswoman, who served in all three
branches of the Philippine government: judicial, executive, and legislative. Defensor Santiago was
named one of The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 1997 by The Australian.[1] She was
known for being a long-serving Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, an elected as judge of
the International Criminal Court, and the sole woman recipient of the Philippines' highest national
recognition, the Quezon Service Cross.
In 1988, Defensor Santiago was named laureate of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government
service, with a citation for bold and moral leadership in cleaning up a graft-ridden government
agency.[2][3][4][5] She ran in the 1992 presidential election but was controversially defeated.[6]
In 2012, Defensor Santiago became the first Filipina and the first Asian from a developing country to
be elected a judge of the International Criminal Court.[7][8] She later resigned the post, citing chronic
fatigue syndrome, which turned out to be lung cancer.[9][10] In 2016, she became part of the
International Advisory Council of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), an
intergovernmental body that promotes the rule of law.[11][12]
Defensor Santiago served three terms in the Philippine Senate. On 13 October 2015, Defensor
Santiago declared her candidacy for President of the Philippines in the 2016 election after her
doctors from the United States declared her cancer "stable" and "receded", but lost the election. In
December 2018, the prestigious Quezon Service Cross was posthumously conferred upon Santiago,
making her the first and, so far, only woman and the sixth person since 1946 to be enthroned in the
country's highest roster.[13]
Defensor Santiago was known as the Dragon Lady, the Platinum Lady, the Incorruptible Lady, the
Tiger Lady, and most popularly, the Iron Lady of Asia. She is colloquially known in Philippine pop
culture as simply Miriam or MDS.[14][15]
