MANILA-- The late former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago will be remembered as the first politician who believed that there was a "youth vote," a political analyst said.

University of the Philippines (UP) Vice President for Public Affairs and recently appointed Commission on Higher Education commissioner Prospero De Vera, said Santiago is the sole politician whose entire political career is anchored on the support of young people.

"She [Miriam] captured the attention of the young people because she talked about the issues that young people really cared about, like corruption in government," De Vera said.

De Vera remembered Santiago's 1992 presidential bid wherein she lost to retired general Fidel Ramos, saying that was the first time the concept of youth vote became part of the political equation in a Philippine election.

"She transformed herself into a bureaucrat fighting corruption and got the students to really push for her in the 1992 elections, the first politician to engage the youth and make it believe that there was a youth vote in a very close election," he said.

De Vera added that towards the end of Santiago's career, the feisty senator continued to win young people's hearts with her witty pick-up lines and inspirational messages in her speeches.

Santiago wrote two best-selling books--"Stupid is Forever" and "Stupid is Forevermore," both Philippine bestsellers.

She died in her sleep on Thursday morning at the age of 71.

• Read: Miriam Defensor Santiago passes away