· Senator Santiago exposed the graft and corruption in the Department of Interior and Local Government and sought Senate blue ribbon committee probes on the string of anomalous government contracts entered into by DILG secretary Ronaldo Puno, namely:

1.  the P3.6 billion Mahogany drug-test deal;
2.  the P307 million handcuffs deal with Pelaez Enterprises;
3.  the P1 billion LAMP contract;
4.  the P19.4 billion budget scam;
5.  the creation of the PNP Special Operation Force; and,
6.  the P40 million DILG information campaign.

 The Senate blue ribbon committee later recommended the filing of graft charges against Puno.  A government-commissioned investigation also pointed to Puno as the perpetrator of a series of  corrupt activities which crippled the coffers of the national government.  Again, if not for Sen. MDS, these anomalies would have gone unnoticed.

· Senator Santiago launched her Code Annotated Series Project 2000 which is intended to update legal knowledge for the 21st century. She annotated with the latest Supreme Court decisions, all the major legal codes in the country.  The three new law books launched in mid-year were Constitution Annotated, Rules of Court Annotated and Penal Code Annotated.  The books immediately hit the bestsellers’ list.  Santiago later launched in December two more law books as part of the series, namely Civil Code Annotated and Local Government Code Annotated.

· Senator Santiago launched her International Law (with Philippine Cases and Materials and ASEAN Instruments).  Santiago resided at Cambridge University, as a 1999 Visiting Fellow of the Lauterpacht Research Center for International Law last summer where she was inspired at top speed to write her treatise on international law.

· Senator Santiago delivered a privilege speech analyzing the criminal liability of Ramos and five of his cabinet secretaries for authorizing the release of P7 billion to propagandize the centennial celebrations.  Santiago said the “smoking gun” in the proposed criminal case against former president Fidel Ramos is the memorandum dated 27 February 1997 where Ramos directed the executive departments to support from their 1997 budgets the centennial celebration project.  She charged that Ramos failed to comply with the two conditions allowed by the Constitution for the transfer of appropriations, namely it should only be an augmentation and it should come from savings.  The Senate blue ribbon committee later released its report finding Ramos and his cabinet secretaries liable for graft. The ex-president suffered another crushing blow when the committee headed by Senator Rene Saguisag also found him guilty of graft. Santiago was instrumental in ensuring that the highest public office will always be a public trust.

· Senator Santiago publicly disclosed the alleged practice of big-time casino VIPs of getting multi-million loans in state-owned casinos run by Pagcor which enables them to continue gambling even after they have lost all their cash.  Santiago said that the government may have lost from P400 to P1 billion, because of bouncing checks issued by casino VIPs.  She stressed that credit lines which remain unpaid for extended periods of time represent substantial revenue losses for the government.

· Senator Santiago introduced the country’s first and only legislative training program called Summer sa Senado.  The program is designed to teach the youth about legislation and gave them a hands-on training on drafting bills and resolutions.  Students from the country’s top universities participated in the program and penned their own bills on different topics such as consumer rights, environment protection, and children’s rights.  Santiago empowered the youth by sponsoring the interns’ original bills in the Senate.

· Senator Santiago called for the speedy passage of her bill, “Code of Professional Standards for Political Public Relations,” that seeks to professionalize the practice of political public relations and penalize bribery of media members in order to obtain preferential or guaranteed news or editorial coverage.

· Senator Santiago voted for the Visiting Forces Agreement.  Santiago called the VFA a “necessary imposition,” saying the Philippines needs to make a choice between the US and Japan on the one hand, or China on the other hand.  She said the Philippines should remain an ally of the US, because the US “remains at the helm of the strongest network of military alliances in the Asia-Pacific.”

· Senator Santiago delivered a statement at the United Nations General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, calling on the international community to consider the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction as a potent measure against drug manufacturing and trafficking.

· Senator Santiago interceded with the DOTC secretary to re-open the Iloilo City Airport in time with the Dinagyang Festival scheduled for January 17 to 24, 1999.  Santiago urged the DOTC to speed up the maintenance work and repairs needed for the airport runway.

· Filed the most number of bills and resolutions in the Senate, with   bills and   resolutions.  Delivered 12 privilege speeches:  Media Corruption in the National Elections, The Charter Change is Unconstitutional, The Proposed VFA is Void Ab Initio Because the Basis is Unconstitutional, A Congress Member has the Right to Resign, Taxpayer’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities well-intention, But..., The Constitution Does Not Protect the Speech of Hate, Presidential Liability for P7 B Fund Juggling, The VFA in Constitutional and International Law, The VFA in the Law of Belligerency, The VFA in Contemporary International Relations, The P3.6 B Police Drug Test Deal is Grossly Disadvantageous to the Government, The Kingdom of Darkness, or the Empire that Government Contracts Built.

· Senator Santiago met 365 tricycle drivers of Philcoa in Quezon City where she distributed sacks of rice as part of her outreach program.
 

LAWS PASSED, CO-AUTHORED BY SEN. MDS

R. A. No. 8750, a.k.a. the “Seat Belt Law”

MIRIAMSPEAK:

“The only thing we are not importing is politicians, because that is what we have in abundance.”
---Senator Santiago, lamenting that the country is importing almost everything from rice, corn, pork, and poultry to fruits and fishery products, except politicians

“They have the rapacity of a crocodile and they have the epidermis of a pachyderm.”
---Senator Santiago, saying the administration was producing “new hybrid life forms” which she described as half-elephant, half-crocodile

“I fear very much that we are developing a cabinet of kleptocracy.”
---Senator Santiago, pointing out that “world-class larceny” was what was taking place in the administration

“I have only sympathy for the President.”
---Senator Santiago, assailing corruption in the Cabinet
 

 WHAT MEDIA SAID OF MIRIAM...

 “Miriam has revived the glory days of the Senate as the watchdog of administration venalities.”
 “Miriam has also shown in the Puno exposes that she is not a Estrada stooge...In exposing Puno, Miriam has rediscovered the power of inquiry of the Senate and has become the symbol of this rediscovery at a time when the legislature is so intimidated by the President’s popularity that it does not stand up to him.”
 “Miriam has found her mark---as catalyst of the reassertion by the Senate of its function as a chamber of inquiry into administration venalities.”
      ---Amando Doronila, Inquirer
          “Miriam finds her mark”

 “Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is one colorful personality.  I like her.  She has one of the widest, and lately most vivid vocabularies among our public figures.  I was impressed by Santiago’s use of the English language during the 1998 presidential campaign.  She was easily the most articulate among the candidates.”
      ---Leandro V. Coronel, Inquirer
          “The ballistic Miriam”

  “Queen of Exposes in the Philippine Senate.”
      ---Fete For A Queen, Today

 Woman’s Journal:  Who would you choose as your Valentine’s date:  Cindy Crawford, Miriam Defensor Santiago, or Monica Lewinsky?
 Brod Pete:  Siyempre, si Senator Miriam.  I’m a fan of hers.  I like her English; it’s very English.
      ---Woman’s Journal
          13 February 1999

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The Isulong Team: Isulong SEOPh, Isulong Seoph by Benj, Pinoy Isulong by Seoph Martinez and Useless Isulong