Duterte to confer highest award to late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago
President Rodrigo Duterte is set to confer to the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago the highest decoration of the Philippines.
The conferment of the posthumous Quezon Service Cross Award to Santiago will be held in Malacanang on Monday, December 3.
Senators Grace Poe and Sonny Angara pushed for the passage of two resolutions in September 2017 urging Duterte to confer Santiago the Quezon Service Cross, the highest award the country could bestow, for her exemplary service to the nation.
Senate Resolution No. 508 cited Santiago's 46 years in government service, such as becoming the presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, immigration commissioner, agrarian reform secretary and senator. She was also a law professor and authored several law books.
She nearly became a president of the Philippines in 1992, but she lost to then President Fidel Ramos.
Before Santiago passed away in September 2016 due to lung cancer, she joined in the presidential race during the same year. Duterte won in the elections.
The creation of the Quezon Service Cross was proposed by then President Manuel Roxas in honor of late President Manuel L. Quezon, which was approved by both Houses of Congress by virtue of Joint Resolution No. 4, s,1946.
To be conferred with the decoration, the President nominates Filipino citizens, but the nomination must be approved by Congress, according to the Official Gazette.
Since the creation of the Quezon Service Cross, only five Filipinos have so far been awarded the Quezon Service Cross, the latest was late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, who received the posthumous award in November 2012. Celerina Monte/DMS
