Duterte to award highest civilian award to late Senator Miriam Santiago

FILE: Late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Photo: Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago/Facebook)

President Rodrigo Duterte will formally award to late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago the highest civilian service award or the Quezon Service Cross, according to a Palace advisory released on Friday, November 30.

The conferment of the award will be held in Malacañang on Monday, December 3.

The Quezon Service Cross, the highest award that the Republic of the Philippines can bestow, was created on August 2, 1946, by President Manuel Roxas in honor of President Manuel L. Quezon.

Since the inception of Quezon Service Cross, only five individuals have been awarded the recognition.

Those individuals who received the cross were Carlos P. Romulo in 1951, first Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo in 1956, former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay posthumously in 1957, late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. posthumously in 2004, and former interior secretary Jesse Robredo posthumously in 2012.

In 2017, Duterte nominated his co-Presidential candidate back in the 2016 elections for the said award. Although rivals for the position, Duterte and Santiago expressed their mutual admiration to one another, prompting netizens to make the “#DuRiam” love team trend during the election campaign.

In his nomination letter to the Congress, the Chief Executive said Santiago “inspired generations of Filipinos to aspire for excellence and remain steadfast against any challenge and adversity.”

He also mentioned that the late senator “used her considerable talents for the service of the people and our nation while exhibiting remarkable passion, courage, and integrity.”

[READ: Duterte nominates Miriam Santiago for highest civilian service award]

A few days after the nomination, the Senate unanimously adopted Concurrent Resolution No. 8 entitled “Resolution Concurring in the Posthumous Conferment of the Quezon Service Cross to Miriam Defensor Santiago.”

The resolution was signed by 16 senators, including Senator Grace Poe who sponsored the measure, along with senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Richard Gordon as co-sponsors.

[READ: Senate OKs highest civilian award for Miriam Santiago]

The Iron fist lady succumbed to lung cancer in September 2016.

Santiago, known for her fiery speeches and witty lines, served in the Philippine Senate from 1995 to 2001 and was re-elected in 2004. She held her senatorial seat until 2016, and ran for presidency in the 2016 polls but lost to Duterte.