Santiago had harsh hashtags for foes

SHE WAS unequivocal and cuttingly candid at the hashtag segment of the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum on Tuesday.

For rival Vice President Jejomar Binay, presidential candidate Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago  assigned the hashtag #WalangForever. It was #Aminin for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, and #OverAmbitious for Sen. Grace Poe.

She had harsher hashtags for President Aquino, #SakitSaHeadache, and for former President Fidel V. Ramos, her rival in the controversial 1992 presidential election, #WagKaMayabang.

Death threats, which she once said she ate for breakfast, remained a minor inconvenience that the senator dismissed with a #PushPaMore hashtag.

Santiago proved kinder to her alma mater, the University of the Philippines, assigning it the hashtag, #LifeisBeautiful.  And as if in a valedictory, she added, “For the Filipino people whom I love, #Happiness.”

Top form

The independent presidential aspirant was apparently in top form when she graced the seventh edition of the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum, a far cry from her distracted demeanor and subdued sound bytes in the last presidential debate on April 24.

When Inquirer board chair Marixi Prieto remarked in her welcoming speech that the audience was in for a stimulating discussion, Santiago obliged, dishing out one-liners and witty hashtags on her rivals.

Asked who among the other presidential candidates was most qualified for the post had she not run, Santiago quipped, without batting an eyelash: “Wala (nobody)!”

The senator named her icons Fr. Joaquin Bernas and Fr. Horacio dela Costa as well as former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral as among those who deserve to be President.

“There are many (cases) of people who should be given the opportunity to reign over the administration,” Santiago said. “They know their ABCs and they are highly competent in their fields. However, they are not given the same propaganda given to presidential candidates who get their propaganda simply because they buy journalists,” she added,  slapping her head slightly and smiling, seemingly catching herself in an unguarded moment.

Same mantra

Asked to describe her rivals, Santiago had one word: “Incompetent.”

She added that there might be an exception or two among the presidential aspirants, but she couldn’t see them representing the country in international conferences and meetings with other heads of state because they know nothing of foreign policy.

“They always chant the same mantra every election all the time: I’ll give you food, education, healthcare—all  promises,” Santiago said, before delivering her punchline:  “So they are promising candidates but they do not appeal to me.”

Asked about her condition, the senator said she was in remission. “It means the cancer cells, which are normally repugnant because they eat everybody around them,” she began, before putting in: “Some people are like cancer cells.”  The crowd roared.

When the laughter died down, Santiago continued: “But there is now a balance between my healthy body and the cancerous cells. They cannot move. It’s sort of a stalemate actually.”

Presidential candidate Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago gestures during the Meet the Inquirer Multimedia at the paper’s office in Makati City, May 3, 2016.
INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

The senator recalled that when she underwent initial cancer treatment, she noted how expensive the medication was. “I knew I can afford it at the initial stages but it will leave me broke and dying anyway. So I said (to the Lord), take me now,” she riposted, gripping the bottom of her chair and looking up.

Santiago said that it was divine intervention that got her into a program for an experimental cancer treatment that she was receiving free of charge.

Otherwise, she said, it was so expensive “you have to pay an arm and a leg, or even sell your spouse.”

Fantasy

On speculations that should she win the presidency she would only let the Vice President run the affairs of state and step aside, Santiago said, “That is straight out of fantasy.  That is just stupid.  UP should withdraw my diploma.”

The senator said that if she became the President, she will run the country “like a strict mother,” and would emphasize discipline, the civic spirit, and instilling a sense of shared destiny among Filipinos to unite the nation.

Asked what was behind her appeal among young people, Santiago said, “Because I’m always fighting people. I think that they like the idea that there is a person who prefers to stand against the tide if that is dictated by the rule of law.”

She added, “I am very articulate in voicing the sentiments of young people.”

Among these sentiments, Santiago said, are being fed up with the promises of candidates.