Miriam is ‘insanely brilliant’ - colleague

As far as Sen. Pilar Juliana "Pia" Cayetano is concerned, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is "insanely brilliant." "A lot of times brilliant people are labeled insane, but she’s actually insanely brilliant. She is so smart," Cayetano said told reporters Tuesday. She added that as a neophyte senator, she considers Santiago her mentor. "Senator Santiago has been a mentor to many of us, katulad ko na medyo (like me, a) younger senator. I cannot see anyone in the Senate who does not admire her level of intelligence," Cayetano said.

Cayetano was defending her maverick colleague against lawyer Nombraan Pangcoga, who had asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reject Santiago's senatorial bid in the 2010 elections due to her alleged "unsound mind." "I think yung mga gumagawa ng ganyan ay inggit lang na hindi sila nabiyayaan ng talino ng katulad kay Senator Santiago," Cayetano said. (They're just jealous because they don't have Senator Santiago's wit.) Santiago, a lawyer and veteran government official, is known for her sharp tongue and fancy rhetoric. She said the disqualification petition was obviously a brainchild of a "notorious" Cabinet official. She said she would use her "parliamentary immunity" to reveal the identity of the Cabinet official once the Senate session resumes next month. - Amita Legaspi/KBK, GMANews.TV