MANILA- The late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago will be buried beside her son Alexander, according to brother General Benjamin Defensor.

Santiago passed away in her sleep while at the St Luke's Medical Center in Taguig Thursday. She was 71.

• Read: Miriam Defensor Santiago passes away

Defensor said in a dzMM interview that Miriam wanted to be buried beside her son because she was very close to him.

It could be recalled that the public saw a very different Miriam when her son died. The feisty senator tagged as the "Iron Lady of Asia" was inconsolable during her son's wake.

In 2003, Alexander committed suicide supposedly due to a failing grade in Constitutional Law at the Ateneo de Manila University. He died via a self-inflicted gunshot in the head.

In an interview with three years ago, Santiago revealed that she never came to terms with her son's death and that she cannot understand why "God is so much love but can still inflict so much pain."

She added that when she dies, she would raise her finger to God and say that "this is not the way to do it," referring to her son's sudden death.

Santiago's remains will be interred at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City.

Authorities said the wake will be open for public viewing until 3 a.m. but food and flowers are not allowed inside the cathedral.