Miriam Defensor Santiago

Miriam Defensor Santiago (Jun 15, 1945 — Sep 29, 2016) was a Senator in the Philippines and a judge at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands.

Chronic fatigue syndrome
Miriam Defensor-Santiago was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in 2008, forcing her to take a leave of absence from the Senate. She complained of dizziness, nausea, and an irregular heartbeat prior to being diagnosed with CFS.

Vitamin D
Medical tests in summer 2013 then revealed that Santiago had very low vitamin D levels - something which should be ruled out prior to a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis, although it is not clear if her vitamin D levels were within the normal range when she was first diagnosed. She was advised to "get lots of sun" and expected to take a"megadose" of vitamin D to improve her vitamin D level.

In 2014, after three years as a judge at the International Criminal Court, Santiago resigned her post because of a relapse of chronic fatigue syndrome. During her resignation statement, she said: "Since I was elected in December 2011, I have secured neither alleviation nor treatment from the medical profession for my illness, known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

Advocacy
While serving as a Senator she filed Senate Bill 3195, which tasked the Philippine Department of Health and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to carry out a national campaign to increase public awareness and knowledge of chronic fatigue syndrome. Around this time, Cristina Ponce Enrile, wife of Filipino Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, also revealed she had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and resigned from her post as ambassador to the Vatican due to its effects.

Cancer-related fatigue
Years later, Santiago's fatigue was later reported to be cancer-related fatigue rather than chronic fatigue syndrome, although her official profile at the Senate of the Philippines clarifies that she suffered from CFS for 2 years.

Career
In 1998, Santiago was honored with winning the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Magsaysay Award for Government Service. She also won a number of other awards, and was author of over 30 books. During her political career Santiago served as the presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court; the immigration commissioner, agrarian reform secretary; and a senator for three terms or from 1995 to 2001 and 2004 to 2016. Santiago was the first Filipino to be elected as judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2011.

She authored many books on law and social science.

Santiago died 29 September 2016 of lung cancer at the age of 71.

Republic of the Philippines Senate Bill 3195

 * Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Act of 2009

Articles

 * 2009, Miriam: DOH must attend to chronic fatigue syndrome problem
 * 2009, Santiago skips dinner with President Macapagal Arroyo which she attributed to her chronic fatigue syndrome condition, "which she jested, made her a cranky person in the late hours."
 * 2013, Get lots of sun, docs advise always-tired Senator Santiago

Obituary

 * 5 June 1945 — 29 September 2016 - Balita

Learn more

 * Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago - Senate of the Philippines (profile)
 * Wikipedia