MANILA, Philippines - Joining dozens of others who have signified their intention to run for president in 2016, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday she is in the pink of health and ready to take another crack at the highest position of the land – barring another bout of cancer.
Santiago made the announcement at a signing event for her new book “Stupid is Forevermore” at the National Book Store in Makati.
“If I become president sometime in the near future, the country will be much better than it was before,” Santiago told those present.
Asked after the event if she is 100 percent sure of running for president next year, Santiago said, “Unless I get struck by another bout of cancer, but it doesn’t happen that often.”
“I will run because I’ve already gotten over my bout of the cancer and there’s nothing left to do,” she said.
“I can apply for a job abroad like the one I lost because of my cancer, but I think since I have served the government from the very beginning, I will end my career here,” she added.
She was given a seat in the International Court of Justice based in The Hague but her ailment prevented her from assuming the post.
Santiago ran for president in 1992 but lost to Fidel Ramos.
Yesterday, Santiago’s staff were all in red t-shirts with #Miriam2016 printed at the back.
Reacting to Santiago’s announcement, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said her entry in the presidential race “provides voters a wider latitude of choice as she has carved a public service record spanning more than two decades in all three branches of government.”
Dozens of Santiago supporters were carrying banners calling on her to run for president.
In a brief interview with reporters after the event, Santiago said that she would definitely show up at the Commission on Elections’ main office in Intramuros within the week to file her certificate of candidacy.
“I cannot say under the law that I will run for president but I’m allowed to say that I will run for public office,” Santiago said.
“Friday is the last day (for filing certificates of candidacy). Possibly Friday because it’s always circus there during the date for filing certificates,” she added.
“Judging by the response of the crowd today, I probably will do that because it seems to me that I’ll disappoint a lot of people if I don’t do that,” Santiago said, referring to her decision to give a presidential run another try.
Running mate ready
Santiago even said she has a running mate in mind but declined to identify him.
“He has already announced. We will be running together. I cannot give the answer because his wife might scold him,” Santiago said.
So far there are three candidates for vice president who still do not have a presidential candidate.
Sens. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Antonio Trillanes IV and Alan Peter Cayetano have all announced their intention to run for vice president but only the first two have actually filed their COCs.
All three are members of the Nacionalista Party and have not been chosen as running mate by any of the presidential aspirants who have declared their decision to run for president.
Administration standard bearer Mar Roxas has Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robrero as his vice president. Sen. Grace Poe has Sen. Francis Escudero for running mate, while Vice President Jejomar Binay has Sen. Gregorio Honasan.
Santiago said she would again run for president under her own People’s Reform Party.
She said she might even have her own senatorial candidate.
“Oh yes, I will have a senatorial candidate. That is for you to guess,” she said.
Santiago has been on medical leave from the Senate for more than a year because of her various ailments.
Initially, Santiago said that she was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome but last year, she announced that she had stage-4 lung cancer.
Santiago underwent treatment over the past few months and according to her, the cancer growth in her lungs has been arrested.
In a short message she delivered at her event yesterday, Santiago said in jest that, “Nobody dies of cancer anymore as long as you have money.” With Aurea Calica