MANILA - With 283 votes, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on 3rd and final reading a bill that seeks to rename Agham Road and BIR Road in Quezon City after the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

No one abstained or objected to House Bill 7413 which was principally authored by Isabela 1st district Rep. Tonypet Albano, Quezon City 1st District Rep. Arjo Atayde, Quezon City 4th District Rep. Marvin Rillo, and Surigao del Sur 1st District Rep. Romeo Momo Sr.

The bill provides that the stretch of Agham Road and BIR Road from North Avenue, crossing Quezon Avenue up to East Avenue in Quezon City, will be renamed after the late lawmaker.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is tasked to issue the necessary implementing rules, orders, and circulars. It shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

The authors of HB 6576 paid tribute to Santiago.

"Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago was a brilliant legal luminary who lived a life dedicated to public service. In 1983, she became the youngest presiding judge in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City and gained a reputation for strict impartiality in applying the law. She brought honor and pride to the country by being the very first Filipino and first Asian in the United Nations to be elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court." the explanatory note of HB 6576 read.

"In the executive branch, Senator Defensor-Santiago served as Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform. In the legislative branch, she was a three-term senator known for her unquestionable integrity and her crusade against corruption. For her courage and moral leadership, Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago received the Magsaysay Award for Government Service, an award that is known as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. She was likewise the only woman recipient of the Philippines' highest national honor, the Quezon Service Cross," the lawmakers recalled.

"Renaming the Agham Road and the BIR Road as Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue is a fitting recognition of her remarkable efforts and contributions that benefited the Filipinos and the nation as a whole."

• The life and legacy of Miriam Defensor Santiago
• Miriam Defensor Santiago becomes 6th recipient of PH’s highest civil service award

Santiago, known for her fiery and impassioned interpellations at the Senate and funny pickup lines in speeches, died at the age of 71 on September 29, 2016.

Among laws Santiago authored were The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, The Data Privacy Act, The Cybercrime Prevention Act, The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act, The Anti-Bullying Act, An Act Restructuring the Excise Tax on Alcohol and Tobacco Products, The Fair Competition Law, The Intellectual Property Code, The Oil Pollution Compensation Act, The Biofuels Act, The Anti-Torture Act, and the The Magna Carta of Women.

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