Miriam on way out, but only after Cha-cha

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is likely to follow in the footsteps of Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, who has asked to take a break from government service to avoid stress and to spend more time with her family.

Santiago, who has just come back from a month-long sick leave due to her hypertension, said she is thinking about resigning from the Senate. Her term lasts until 2010.

Santiago said she is inclined to follow in the footsteps of Sto. Tomas but said she would wait for the Charter change issue to be resolved, and — perhaps — for a new Constitution to be put in place.  

"I am an elected official. I cannot just quit because it suits me. I have to answer to a national constituency," she said.

Santiago chairs the Senate committees on energy and foreign relations, and co-chairs the Legislative Oversight Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (LOVFA).

Despite her plans of taking a long break, the energetic Santiago has been a force to reckon with in the Senate on the issue of Charter change. She is also pushing for the passage of the Biofuels Act of 2006.

Early this month, Santiago also called for the abolition of the Senate to pave the way for the Arroyo administration-backed plan to shift from a presidential, bicameral system to a parliamentary, unicameral form of government.

On Thursday, Santiago will convene the LOVFA to tackle the details of the new RP-US agreement on non-traditional issues that include terrorism, bird flu and natural disasters.

Santiago, who lost her adult son, sympathized with Sto. Tomas, who lost her husband. Both are working mothers. Santiago has four young children while Sto. Tomas lives with her three grandchildren.

Santiago said she tried to dissuade Sto. Tomas from resigning but later became convinced that she needed to rest. Santiago even described Sto. Tomas, a close friend, as "a jewel in the Cabinet, and the country’s finest technocrat today."

"Working mothers just get tuckered out. Government should consider a one-year sabbatical for working mothers who have served at least a decade in public service. This is common in academe," Santiago said.

She noted that although the Senate calendar provides for breaks, it only means that there are no sessions. Senators continue to do their paperwork and make public appearances, said Santiago, who also taught at the University of the Philippines (UP) for 10 years.

Santiago said she plans to write some books during her vacation, in addition to the 30 college textbooks she has already authored.

"Celebrity is just another name for a loss of serenity. You get both bouquets and brickbats, and if the criticism is hurled out of malice, you have to grapple with the problem of evil in the world," she said. "You grit your teeth and soldier on, but the world is hollow."

Since she was elected in 2004, Santiago has successfully sponsored the ratification of international treaties, the only feat that the Senate could boast of amid calls for its abolition.

After raising some questions on the budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last Monday, Santiago immediately excused herself from the budget deliberations at the Senate because of a relapse.  

She was absent yesterday upon advice of her doctors but she delivered her proposed cuts to the 2006 General Appropriations Act through press statements released by her staff.

Santiago and Sto. Tomas, along with new Social Welfare Secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral, are included in President Arroyo’s circle of powerful women in government.   <