Miriam still sick, misses impeachment trial

Still recovering from hypertension, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Monday said she misses attending the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. 

 

"I miss our daily banter and am desperately trying to get well. I also miss the impeachment trial punctuated by certain personalities who have all the charm of show window mannequins," Santiago said in a letter addressed to the Senate media on Monday.

 

The feisty senator said her health was "not cooperating."

 

"Over the weekend, I was normal at 120/80. This morning Monday, my blood pressure was galactic at 140/100. At that rate, if I attend the impeachment hearings, I will soon be pushing daisies at a memorial park near you," she said.

 

But Santiago said she was not prepared to give in to her illness.

 

"I refuse to succumb to illness, because I don’t want to give my political enemies the pleasure of dancing on my grave, chortling like contented snakes," she said.

 

Santaigo said she even accepted a speaking engagement on Wednesday at the Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society, which will be holding their joint annual convention.  

 

"If I can attend, I shall speak, not as an authority on medicine, but as a victim of old age. Call me the walking wounded. I would really like to go because I’m already prepared with my pick-up lines," she said.

 

Santiago has been absent from the trial the past week because of hypertension. She was also absent during the first week of the trial due to the same reason.

 

Santiago was elected as one of the six new judges of the International Criminal Court, the independent body that prosecutes individuals for crimes aainst humanity and war crimes.  

 

The new ICC judges are expected to take oath in March and wait for the ICC to call them.  But Santiago had earlier manifested that she plans to defer assuming her judicial post for the impeachment trial. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News