Press Release
November 23, 2012

MIRIAM: NO TO PRESIDENTIAL RUN

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said she is not interested in running for president in 2016.

Santiago was responding to a question raised by a student leader during an open forum after her lecture on the elections and the Constitution.

She was guest speaker at a forum sponsored by the Far Eastern University Supreme Student Council held at the university auditorium, which was packed by some 1,000 students in both the main hall and the upper gallery.

Santiago said that after winning the elections for new judges of the International Criminal Court, she is bound to report for work at The Netherlands when the ICC calls her to assume office.

ICC judges have a term of nine years, while Santiago's senatorial term of office will end in 2016.

Upon arrival at the campus, Santiago was met by a horde of students, and when she entered the auditorium, she was given a thunderous ovation.

Although Santiago declined the proposal to seek the presidency in 2016, some student leaders said that they have already started a Miriam for President movement on the internet.

The students said that they are proposing a Santiago-Marcos team for 2016.

The senator said that she wants to work in international law, her specialty when she graduated doctor of juridical science from the University of Michigan.

The reception of the student crowd was so tumultuous that the FEU administration called on campus guards to maintain order and allow Santiago to reach her car for her departure from campus.

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