Image: Instagram/@iamhearte
Heart Evangelista on Tuesday paid tribute to Miriam Defensor-Santiago after the late senator was posthumously awarded with the Quezon Service Cross.
Evangelista posted a photo of the award via her Instagram account with caption: “Honoring my Tita Miriam.”
“Yesterday, she was awarded with the Quezon Service Cross, the highest civilian service distinction one can ever receive from the government,” she recounted.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday conferred this award to the late senator for dedicating her life “to public service for almost 50 years” and for embodying “the standards expected of a public servant.”
Only six people have been awarded with this recognition “and Tita Miriam was the first woman to receive it.”
The previous recipients of the award were former President Emilio Aguinaldo, diplomat Carlos Romulo, the late President Ramon Magsaysay, former Senator Ninoy Aquino and the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Evangelista praised Santiago for this distinction, saying “Truly, there is no one more deserving of this award than Tita Miriam.”
“She was a brave and brilliant woman of service, who lovingly dedicated her whole life to others — to her family, friends, and to the country,” she added.
Evangelista has been open about her close relationship to Santiago, even referring to the late senator as her “second mother.” /jpv
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