Miriam: It’s hard to fight ‘thieves,’ but I won’t back down

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. RICHARD A. REYES/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BIÑAN CITY— Despite admitting it is difficult to fight “thieves,” Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago vowed that she would not back down as she sought support from students in this city in Laguna province on Tuesday.
“It’s very hard to fight these thieves who have the money to pay off black propagandists,” said Santiago during a campaign speech at the University of Perpetual Help System here.
“Di ako uurong, maski ano gagawin sa akin. Ilang beses ko na sila hinamon, magsuntunkan kami, ayaw naman nila (I won’t back down, regardless of what they do to me. I have repeatedly challenged them to a fistfight but no one dared to face me),” she said.
Her detractors said Santiago, who is running for president under the People’s Reform Party, could not sustain the campaign as she was recovering from lung cancer.
Santiago arrived here accompanied by a small group of support staff. She delivered a brief speech before more than 1,000 students and university personnel.
After indulging students for a quick photo session, the senator declined to answer questions from reporters and left.
She started her speech by apologizing she would not deliver her famous “pick up lines,” those funny and witty one-liners. Instead, she said she prepared a short story, earning a collective sigh from students, who began chanting the senator’s name.
Her story, delivered in Filipino, went: “Juan said: In 2013, my father ran as mayor. Pedro: Wow! What did he do? Juan: Nothing because he won.”
Another went: “Do fairy tales start with ‘Once upon a time?’ Answer: No. Others start with, ‘If you elect me.’”
On a more serious note, Santiago turned her guns on officials accused of pocketing public funds.
Some of them, she said, “even had the guts to run for president.”
Without naming names, Santiago said these “thieves” in government were out to steal public funds and give the money away to voters, as if it were theirs to give during elections.
She said these people get re-elected, allowing “perpetual plunder” to continue.
Santiago, who frequents campuses to reach out to students, appealed to the youth to choose a leader who encourages “faith, hope and charity” for the country.
Campaigns, she said, should also serve as a venue to help explain to the younger generation the problems plaguing the country.
Santiago said employment would be her administration’s top agenda, promising to create two million jobs through new businesses funded by foreign and local capital.
“Huwag malungkot para sa bansa (Don’t despair for the country). This country loves you. Help me transform our country,” she said.

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