[2][3][4][5] After being appointed by President Corazon Aquino as Secretary of Agrarian Reform from 1989 to 1990, she ran in the 1992 presidential election but was controversially defeated in events that involved a car crash injury and power outages during voting process.

[6][7][8][9][10][11] Defensor Santiago would then serve three terms in the Philippine Senate, where she was known for supporting progressive laws, and authored or campaigned anti-corruption bills.

[12][13] After former president Joseph Estrada was arrested on April 25, 2001, she was among the politicians who spoke against EDSA II at pro-Estrada rallies that preceded the May 1 riots near Malacañang Palace.

In December 2018, the prestigious Quezon Service Cross was posthumously conferred upon Defensor Santiago, making her the first woman and, so far, only Visayan and the sixth person ever to be enthroned in the country's highest roster.

In 1965, Defensor Santiago graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines Visayas.

[30] Defensor Santiago went on a fellowship to the United States, and earned the Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

[38] Defensor Santiago was appointed judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City, Metro Manila by President Ferdinand Marcos.

To retaliate, Marcos issued a Preventive Detention Action order which authorized the military to hold suspects indefinitely without bail.

[1] After martial law, in 1988, President Corazon Aquino appointed Defensor Santiago as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation.

Defensor Santiago declared the Philippines as "the fake passport capital of the world", and directed raids against criminal syndicates, including the Yakuza.

[9][41] Under a controversial law passed by Congress and signed by President Aquino, all agricultural landholdings were taken by the government and divided among the farmers.

Defensor Santiago filed a protest before the Supreme Court as electoral tribunal, citing the power outages during the counting of votes as evidence of massive fraud.

[1][8][9][10][11] The public outrage over the presidential results prompted Newsweek to feature her and her rival on the cover with the question: "Was the Election Fair?"

She again ran for president in the 1998 presidential elections, with running-mate Francisco Tatad, but lost amidst heavy propaganda concerning her mental health, which was later proven false.

[53][54][55] The rallies she spoke in were soon followed by the May 1 riots initiated by the rallyists going to Malacañang, where reporters from the Philippine Daily Inquirer noted their attempts to storm the institution's premises being preceded by statements from Santiago the previous night that went: "I am bored.

"[56] After the May 1 incident, Santiago remained defiant in her stance against the Arroyo presidency,[57] and was denounced by her cousin, Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. of Iloilo, for her rhetoric.

[61] In 2011, Defensor Santiago was elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which hears cases against humanity for former heads of state.

Among other candidates for the position are AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes of Malaysia and an unstated representative from Brunei, which is the lead country for 2018–2022 according to tradition.

[88] Following a Catholic funeral Mass, she was interred at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina on October 2, beside the tomb of her son, Alexander, who died in 2003.

[93] In June 2017, members of the Youth Reform Movement lobbied for the posthumous awarding of the Quezon Service Cross to Defensor Santiago.

In September 2017, Senator Grace Poe, her freedom of information (FOI) ally and 2016 presidential rival, nominated Defensor Santiago to be awarded the Quezon Service Cross, the highest honor in the entire Republic, subject for approval of both houses of Congress and by President Rodrigo Duterte, who was another 2016 presidential rival.

[100] On December 3, 2018, the prestigious Quezon Service Cross was officially posthumously conferred upon Santiago, making her the sixth recipient and first and only woman to be included in the country's highest accolade and roster.

[101] Defensor Santiago is not in favor of federalism, stating in one interview that if the country would turn Federalist, "[That] the masses and the entire electorate will not [be able to] choose who the president will be.

She said that this can end the dispute as it did in the 1981 involvement of mercenaries in an invasion of the Seychelles, the 1987 use of chemical weapons in the Gulf War between Iran and Iraq, and the 1988 destruction of Korean Air Lines Boeing 747.

[109] Defensor Santiago publicly advocated for the passage of a divorce law in the Philippines, saying, "Why would you force [couples] to be together if they want to kill each other by mere sight?"

I am a very avid supporter of RH [Reproductive Health] Law, but I will definitely fight to the death against abortion as a lawyer, not necessarily as a religious person.

[114] Defensor Santiago expressed dismay when the RH Law had suffered a one-billion peso budget cut before the Congress in early 2016.

In addition, mining has made numerous destructive advances in Philippine society and ecosystems, destroying watersheds and agricultural lands, as well as rivers and seas.

[126] She wrote two autobiographies, Inventing Myself [127] and Cutting Edge: The Politics of Reform in the Philippines,[128] the latter being praised by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

[143] In 2016, GMA Network's television drama anthology Wagas featured the story of Defensor Santiago and her husband Narciso, where she was played by Heart Evangelista.