British embassy opens book of condolence for Thatcher

MANILA, Philippines - Admirers, friends and sympathizers of the late former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher may post messages in a condolence book provided by the British embassy in Manila.

Thatcher died of a stroke last Monday.

The British embassy, located at 120 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Hill, Taguig City, opened the book of condolence yesterday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Beginning today until Friday, visitors may write messages from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Visitors are advised to call or send the following details by fax to +63 (2) 858 2313: Name, vehicle type, and registration number.

Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she felt “very sad” over the death of Thatcher, who had shown her “extraordinary sympathy and compassion” during a visit to the Philippines in the 1990s.

“She was a global leader and she commended me for my book called ‘Cutting Edge’,” Santiago said.

The senator said Thatcher did not read newspapers when she was in power “because they ruined her day.”

Santiago said she would have followed Thatcher’s leadership style had she been elected president in the 1992 elections, instead of Fidel Ramos.

“Oh absolutely. I idolize her actually and she’s unique and brilliant because you know, she started by taking chemistry in Oxford and then she switched to law which is astounding, the kind of mental discipline that is needed to calibrate your brain from the sciences to the more social aspects of society including social engineering, was amazing,” she said.

“So I was enriched by my experience with her. She was also very results-oriented like me. I remember that she came down the stairs, she greeted me and looked at my book and then she said, ‘well let’s have a picture’,” she said.

“Everyone was standing around hoping to get a word with her and she knew that people loved to have pictures with her. So immediately we all fell in line. And then there was a certain general who was taking his time, maybe out of shyness. So she said rather sternly to him, Oh come on, general, shake a leg. I love her for that memory,” Santiago said. –  Pia Lee-Brago, Christina Mendez