Miriam turns 71

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago celebrated her 71st birthday on Wednesday thankful for her family and for being able to serve the country.

After a health scare last month, Santiago, who has stage 4 lung cancer, thanked also those who greeted her on her birthday via Twitter.

She thanked God for “the opportunity to serve our country and for being blessed with a happy family and good friends for the past 71 years,” Santiago said in her Twitter account @senmiriam.

“I have said this before, and I will say it again: All things work for good to those who love God,” the senator also said.

Santiago ends her term as senator on June 30. She went on medical leave shortly after the May 9 elections where she ran in the presidential election and lost. Last month, she was rushed to the hospital after she developed pneumonia, but she recovered after two weeks.