Miriam Santiago: I have lung cancer

“I’m not afraid of cancer. There is nothing I’m afraid of,” said Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago as she announced that she is diagnosed with lung cancer.

In a press briefing at the Senate on Wednesday, July 2, the renowned constitutional law expert made the teary-eyed announcement but tried to keep with her usual colorful character and even joked about her condition.

“I think you’re expecting I would announce I am the only senator who out of boredom developed a relationship with a toyboy but that is not the case. The distinction lies somewhere else. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself to you as the only senator who has been diagnosed with lung cancer as of last week,” she said.

A former judge of The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), Santiago said she has cancer of the left lung.

While her cancer is at stage 4, Santiago said she expects to be cured in 6 weeksthrough “chemotherapy [that] has been reduced to a tablet called molecular targeting.”

“[My stage 4 cancer] is not metastatic, as you know metastatic is just a high word for spreading. It is not spreading. If you know that cancer has already metastasized the only cure is chemotherapy and the chances are very low but in my case they are very, very well behaved. I believe I’ve been disciplined all my life. Even my cancer cells are showing excellent discipline.”

Santiago said she is seeking medical treatment for the cancer.

“This tablet is a sort of magic tablet so I don’t have to take anything, just take the tablet and in effect, it will give me all the benefits of chemotherapy without the side effects. So I hope to be able to see you in 6 weeks fully cured of cancer and you will probably feel even envious of my status because if will give me gravitas if I talk to people about cancer.”

Santiago said her cancer accounts for her difficulty to breathe.

“I think many of you have already noticed for the past two or more years that I have had difficulty. I’ve always been short of breath, particularly when I deliver privilege speeches or even commencement speeches.”

“I don’t know what the reactions of my enemies are. Maybe they’ll be happy because on one hand I might die and then they could get rid of me but on the other hand, I might survive and I will get rid of them.”

Addressing reporters, she said she personally went to the Senate to make the announcement.

“I have come in so far as you are concerned so you can see me personally before the cancer ravages my physical body. So I have come to shake hands with you personally or to kiss you personally because I’ve missed you for two years and you’ve been kind to me in my political career. However, if I’m not able to do that today, I’ll kiss you anyway when I’m dead.”

The senator said that when she found out, she was “excited.”

“I said ‘Yes!’ Because I’m entering another dimension of human life. The happy thing about my situation is my sister is a medical doctor. She is in close touch with a person considered the top, number one lung cancer specialist in the world so in effect he is my oncologist but he is doing it long distance.”

Santiago, 69, was elected judge of the ICC in December 2011 but announced in June that she is resigning from the post because of her illness known as chronic fatigue syndrome.

Known for her legal expertise, fiery temper and witticisms on traditional and social media, Santiago is one of the most colorful personalities in Philippine politics. She was a former immigration commissioner and secretary of agrarian reform during the presidency of Cory Aquino.

The senator who hails from Iloilo won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, known as the Asian Nobel Prize.