Ovation shocks Miriam Santiago out of her skin

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. FILE PHOTO/SENATE POOL

She wasn’t part of the show but her entrance brought the audience to its feet.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago may have been vilified by some quarters for her vote to acquit former Chief Justice Renato Corona two weeks ago but she got a standing ovation from an audience of about 1,300 who watched the “World Stars of Ballet” at the Aliw Theater in Pasay City last week.

Santiago, an avid fan of Liza Macuja-Elizalde, walked into the full-packed theater featuring the prima ballerina on June 9, a few minutes after the show started at 7:30 p.m. Upon seeing her, the audience stood and mobbed her for cell phone photos until the security personnel intervened and asked everyone to return to their seats.

Santiago said she was “shocked right out of my skin” at the warm reception, thinking her popularity as a public official had dwindled because she did not find Corona guilty of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution at the end of the impeachment trial on May 29.

She, along with Senators Joker Arroyo and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, were the only dissenters as against 20 colleagues who voted for Corona’s conviction and removal from office.

“I am usually applauded when I am guest speaker or when I am featured in a campaign rally. But this is the first time that I have been given an ovation when I was simply a member of the audience. It was a thrill,” Santiago said.

A day before the ballet, the senator was mobbed by hundreds of people at a bazaar in Greenhills, San Juan, while at its fresh food section. She moved to the other side of the marketplace but she was again mobbed, delaying her shopping spree.

Santiago said that while she was used to public applause and photo sessions, she did not expect her popularity to reach this magnitude.

Her continued high public acceptance, she said, is one of the best gifts ever. The senator celebrates her 67th birthday today (Friday). Cynthia D. Balana