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MANILA, Philippines – The political career of former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has been filled with bombastic words and fiery zingers.
Here are some of her memorable quotes and lines. (OBITUARY – Miriam Defensor Santiago: ‘God is not out there but in you’)
“Sir, I remind you that as the Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation, I represent the majesty of the Republic of the Philippines. You have the obligation to show respect and courtesy to me. Now shut up, or I’ll knock your teeth off!”
– Santiago, to a foreign suspect who interrupted her during a press conference when she headed the agency now known as the Bureau of Immigration
“This is goodbye. I shall not importune you any longer. I shall fade into the night like Batman.”
– Santiago, during her last press conference as agrarian reform secretary in 1990
“I lied!”
– Santiago, in 2001, when asked about her promise of jumping off a plane if then-president Joseph Estrada would be arrested
“I’m not angry. I am irate. I am foaming at the mouth. I’m homicidal. I’m suicidal. I’m humiliated, debased, degraded. And not only that, I feel like throwing up to be living my middle years in a country of this nature. I am nauseated. I spit in the face of Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and his cohorts in the Supreme Court.”
– Santiago, after she was removed from the shortlist of nominees for Supreme Court Chief Justice in 2005
“Handbags, I don’t at all like them because they occupy my hands. My hands always have to be ready in case I need to slap somebody.”
– Santiago, during an interview with GMA News TV’s Powerhouse in 2012
“We’re all for honest government and yet the world condemns us as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. That’s why it’s hard to win in international elections or campaigns because the Philippines has the reputation of being a corrupt country.
Iniisip ng iba, kung corrupt ang bayan, walang lalabas na matino diyan, walang ibubuga yan. Bawa’t isa ba sa inyo, walang sala tungkol sa SALN? Bigyan niyo ako ng isa pang buhay, Panginoon bigyan mo pa ako ng isa pang buhay para imbestigahan lahat yan. Dito sa Senate or sa House of Representatives!”
– Santiago, during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2013
“Magiging 90 ka na, kasing-tanda mo na si Tanda [Juan Ponce Enrile]. Pinoproteksyunan mo ang tao na siya ang pinaka-guilty. I will give you this counsel: Tell the truth before the senators affected have you assassinated. You will turn 90, you’ll be as old as that old man. You’re protecting the man who’s most guilty. Think about it. This is a friendly tip from a lawyer.”
– Santiago, to alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles during a Senate investigation into the pork barrel scam, November 2013
“God is neither up above nor out there. Instead, God is found in here. In the human mind, in the human conscience. That is why, you are not only graduating with a bachelor’s degree today, you are graduating to a place nearer where God is. Because God is in here. God is in you.”
– Santiago, in a commencement speech at the University of the Philippines Cebu in 2014 (READ: Miriam on God, hell and the middle finger)
“Tanong: Kung ang opposite ng ‘pro’ ay ‘con,’ ano naman ang opposite ng ‘progress’? Sagot: Congress.“
– One of Santiago’s jokes and pick-up lines in a speech at the University of Perpetual Help, Laguna, March 2016
Check out Miriam’s other memorable jokes and one-liners over the years:
- From law to life, Miriam sums it up with one-liners
- Mistresses, math and men: Miriam’s latest pick-up lines
- Miriam’s top 6 pork punch lines
- VIDEO: Miriam’s water pick-up lines and leadership tips
“Stage 4 is the last stage [of cancer]. Nag-aantay ako mamatay, eh hindi ako pinatay ng guardian angel ko eh!”
– Santiago, when asked about her health, which was affecting her Senate attendance, during the 1st presidential debate of the 2016 elections
“I have been the subject of much black propaganda concerning my health. I have never been false to the Filipino people… I will never quit, I will never stop, I will never withdraw.”
– Santiago, in her closing statement during the last presidential debate of the 2016 elections
– research by Michael Bueza, Patty Pasion, and Jodesz Gavilan/Rappler.com
Here are more quotes from the feisty ex-senator.
Read Rappler’s profiles on Santiago during the 2016 presidential elections:
The Smartest of Them All • The Loudest of Them All • The Last Battle of Miriam Defensor Santiago
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