Academic Excellence

Dr. Santiago is one of the most intellectually brilliant leaders that our country has ever seen. She earned the degrees Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude; and Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines. She went abroad and earned the graduate degrees of Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical Science, from the University of Michigan, one of the top three law schools in the United States. She finished the academic requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Religious Studies, at the Maryhill School of Theology.

In U.P., the perfect grade is 1.0. In her last undergraduate semester, Dr. Santiago earned the near-perfect average grade of 1.1. And she finished her 4-year course in only 3-1/2 years. At the University of Michigan, she was a Barbour Scholar and DeWitt Fellow. She finished her master’s degree in only one year, and her doctorate in only six months.

Our guest speaker loves learning. She has done postdoctoral studies all over the world, including Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, and Academy of Public International Law at the Peace Palace (the seat of the International Court of Justice), at The Hague, Netherlands.

Dr. Santiago was class valedictorian at all levels – elementary, high school, and college. She made history in U.P. when she became the first female editor-in-chief of the famous student newspaper, Philippine Collegian, thus shattering a 50-year old record of male dominance. She won as Best Debater in the annual U.P. law debate, where she was captain of the winning team. It is interesting that at the same time she held a campus beauty title, not once but twice – as ROTC corps sponsor.

Professional Excellence

Dr. Santiago holds an amazing record of excellence in all three branches of government – judicial, executive, and legislative. In the judicial branch, she has been presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court at Quezon City. In the executive branch, she has been immigration commissioner; and a cabinet member, as agrarian reform secretary. In the legislative branch, she has now been a senator for three terms.

Dr. Santiago worked abroad. She served as legal officer of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. She also served as a consultant of the Philippine embassy in Washington, D.C.

In all three branches of government, she has been showered with awards for being outstanding, making her the most awarded public official in our country today. For example, she has received awards such as The Outstanding Young Men, or TOYM; The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service, or TOWNS; and Most Outstanding Alumna in Law from U.P.

Dr. Santiago was a U.P. law professor for some 10 years, teaching evening class after office hours. She has written some 30 books, many of which are very scholarly textbooks in law and the social sciences, well advanced of our time. During her initial battle with cancer, she continued to work on the 2014 edition of all her law books. She is considered the leading expert of her generation in constitutional law and in international law.

In the Philippine Senate where Dr. Santiago is on her third term, she has filed the highest number of bills, and authored some of the most important laws. Some of her most important pending bills are: anti-dynasty bill; an act institutionalizing an age-appropriate curriculum to prevent the abduction, exploitation, and sexual abuse of children; anti-epal bill; freedom of information bill; and magna carta for Philippine internet freedom. She has been fearless in exposing and naming notorious criminal suspects in legislative investigations, particularly in naming jueteng lords and illegal logging lords.