Exclusive - Remembering The Iron Lady of Asia: Six Legacies That Miriam Santiago Will Be Remembered For

The Iron Lady of Asia has passed away this morning and everyone mourns for her. As her supporters always say, she is the best president we never had.

Even after losing her three presidential bids to three men, she did not relent from serving the country until her dying day.

Her legacy and passion to serve the nation will continue to be remembered. Here are some of these:

1) She was the first judge to decide a rule against Martial Law

Santiago was appointed judge of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City by Ferdinand Marcos. She was the youngest judge appointed in Metro Manila.

Her name reached the headlines when she issued perhaps the first decision against martial law when public assemblies against the administration were not allowed and was punishable by death. Santiago ordered the military to allow the rally of activists coming from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and other activists coming from various groups. She was awarded by the Philippine Jaycees, the Philippine Lions, and the YMCA Philippines a judicial excellence award for her action.

2) She led raids against international criminal syndicates in the country

During the administration of Corazon Aquino, Santiago was the commissioner of immigration and deportation. She led the raids against criminal syndicates in the country, even those by the fearsome and notorious Yakuzas. She pushed for the deportation of these alien criminals.

Her famous quote "I eat death threats for breakfast" was spoken during this time when these crime syndicates kept giving her serious death threats.

3) She distributed land to farmers

In a controversial law passed by Congress and signed by former President Benigno Aquino III, all agricultural landholdings were taken by the government and divided among the farmers, prompting them to receive three hectares of the land they till on.

To combat this, big landowners tried to convert the classification of their land from agricultural to commercial, residential, or industrial to prevent the distribution. Miriam stopped the conversion plan.

4) Exposure of jueteng and illegal logging lords

During her second term as a senator, she exposed and named numerous "jueteng" lords and illegal logging lords. This lead to numerous arrests of small to big jueteng operations mostly in the provinces. The fight against illegal logging was sought after a deadly typhoon struck death in Quezon back in 2004 after numerous logs were cut in the mountains without replacing them.

5) She passed a humongous amount of laws

She has the most number of laws passed and bills made in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES. Some of them are the Sin Tax Law, Climate Change Act of 2009, Renewable Energy Act of 2008, and Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law. She also co-authored Reproductive Health Act of 2012 which was later established as Reproductive Health Law that would disseminate information about family planning.

6) She wrote the major basis of the country's claim of West Philippine Sea

Our victory in the territorial battle against China is thanks to Sen. Santiago's efforts. She wrote the Archipelagic Baselines Act of 2009 which served as one of the major basis of the Philippines' claim on maritime sovereignty including the West Philippines Sea and parts of it.

There are still a lot of legacy left by the former senator and everyone knows she's one of the best politicians this country ever had.