AS THE whole nation grieves on the passing of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, members of the Iloilo media missed the senator’s generous use of Ilonggo words of endearment aside from her pick-up lines during speaking sorties in Iloilo City.
Loving Ilonggo words such as “Toto, Nonoy, Inday, Nene, and Palangga” were freely used by Miriam in addressing members of the local media as if they were all her relatives and long time friends.
Bombo Radyo Iloilo Station Manager Henry Lumawag will surely miss Miriam’s Ilonggo words of endearment while being interviewed. Her compassion with the workers in the local media industry is legendary, according to Lumawag.
Bombo Radyo Lady reporter Rod Jaen Losbanes aired the same.
“No one can take the place of Miriam as a lawmaker and public servant and she is nonpareil as the last of the senators to truly fight graft and corruption in the government. She is brave and frank and she is not controversial in her advocacies,” Losbanes said.
RM774 Reporter Joel Franco said Miriam’s hugot and pick-up lines will remain nailed in the hearts and minds of the Ilonggos especially students who look up to the senator as the forever campus sweetheart.
The radio reporter said Miriam will remain the inspiration of the people and icon of what a lawmaker should be.
Journalist Mayin de los Santos of The Daily Guardian said Miriam is forever Miriam, the Iron Lady of the Senate while fellow journalist Glenda Sologastoa of Panay News said no one can be at par with Miriam in terms of intellect and wit.
Super Radyo Reporter Rudjiemar Sucaldito said the Ilonggos lost a friend, caring mother and sister and a true public servant who showed how to stand firmly against corruption in the government.
The Ilongga senator succumbed to cancer of the lungs on Thursday, September 29, that stunned her admirers and friends, students, religious sector, and the media.
Miriam ran for President three times, in 1992 against the winner Fidel Ramos, in 1998 against Erap Estrada and in 2016 where she finished last among five candidates with Rodrigo Duterte as winner.
Similarly, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog issued Executive Order 48 declaring September 29 a day of mourning in the city.
The city mayor said Miriam brought pride and honor to the Ilonggos by serving in all branches of the government during her lifetime, as a senator, regional trial court judge, Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform and Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation.
