Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. SCREENGRAB FROM SEN. MIRIAM DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO’S FACEBOOK PAGE
SAYING that her treatment had been effective and she had beaten her cancer, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she vowed to return the hustings and join the final debate of the presidential candidates today (Sunday).
“I want you to know and I also want our countrymen to know that my health has returned,” Santiago said in a video posted on her social media accounts on Friday night.
She said the experimental medicine she took for nearly six weeks was effective.
“So I’m perfectly normal now, as you can tell just from my voice and from the way I am speaking, I think,” said Santiago, who had previously exhibited shortness of breath caused by her advanced lung cancer.
Santiago, who was in a pink V-neck top that showed a slight scarring on her upper chest, thanked her supporters and asked them to continue to sway the “undecided” voters.
“I’m very happy to notice your reports that many people are switching sides. We all know this is the time the undecided voters will decide,” she said.
Crucial days
“These remaining days are crucial, very important. I hope you continue to help me so that we can go to Malacañang together,” she added.
Santiago was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2014.
It was the second time since being diagnosed that Santiago announced she had beaten the deadly disease.
Last year, she announced that the cancerous tumor in her left lung has regressed due to a new albeit expensive drug she had been taking, and declared that she would run for president again.
She, however, made only six appearances since the campaign started on Feb. 9 when she announced she was taking a break to undergo an experimental clinical trial for a new anti-cancer pill.
She skipped the second presidential debate due to the treatment.
On April 12, Santiago returned to the campaign trail in her hometown Iloilo City. She appeared stronger and made four campus visits within a week.
She will participate in the third and final televised presidential debate in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, on Sunday.
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