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MANILA – The bill renaming Agham Road and BIR Road in Quezon City after the late Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago has lapsed into law.
Republic Act (RA) 11963, renaming Agham Road and BIR Road in Quezon City, stretching from North Avenue and traversing through Quezon Avenue up to East Avenue, into Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue officially became a law on Oct. 12.
The new law, which was made public on Saturday, directs the Department of Public Works and Highways to issue the necessary rules, orders, and circulars to implement the provisions of the law within 60 days of its effectivity.
Defensor-Santiago died in September 2016 after a long bout with lung cancer. She was 71.
She held positions in all three branches of the Philippine government – judiciary, executive, and legislative.
Before serving as a senator for three terms, Defensor-Santiago was first a presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court at Quezon City and a commissioner of the Department of Immigration.
She was dubbed the "Iron Lady of Asia" and "Dragon Lady.”
Defensor-Santiago, an advocate of global justice, was the first Asian judge elected to the International Criminal Court and the first Filipino elected as commissioner for the International Development Organization.
She also served as a legal officer at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 1988, Defensor-Santiago received the Magsaysay Award for Government Service, known as the Asian counterpart of the Nobel Prize, "for bold and moral leadership in cleaning up a graft-ridden government agency.”
RA 11963 was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on March 21, 2023, and Aug. 14, 2023, respectively.
If the President does not act on a proposed law submitted by Congress, it would lapse into law after 30 days of receipt, according to the Official Gazette.
The law takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation. (PNA)
