culture as simply Miriam or MDS, and is positively cited for her lifelong dedication to public service in the Philippine government. Early life and education Defensor Santiago was born Miriam Palma Defensor in Iloilo City, to Benjamin Defensor, a local judge, and Dimpna Palma, a college dean. She was the eldest of seven children. She graduated valedictorian in grade school, high school, undergraduate school. She graduated high school in Iloilo Provincial High School (now Iloilo National High School) and served as the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the said high school's student publication "The Ilonggo". In 1965, Defensor Santiago graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines Visayas. After graduation, she was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She proceeded to the University of the Philippines College of Law. There, she was champion in numerous oratorical contests and debates. She became the first female editor of the student newspaper, The Philippine Collegian, and was twice appointed ROTC muse. She graduated Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines College of Law in Diliman. Defensor Santiago went on a fellowship to the United States, and earned the Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She finished both degrees in a period of only one and a half years. Following school, she took a position as special assistant to the Secretary of Justice. She also taught political science at the Trinity University of Asia. She was law professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, teaching evening classes for some ten years. She has studied at several universities, including Oxford and Harvard law summer schools; Cambridge; and The Hague Academy of International Law. She earned the degree Master of Religious Studies (without thesis) at the Maryhill School of Theology. In Oxford, she was a research fellow at St. Hilda's College and also took a summer program in law at St. Edmund's Hall. At Cambridge, she was a research fellow at the Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law. Career Department of Justice Defensor-Santiago became a special assistant to the Secretary of Justice for ten years after her higher studies abroad. United Nations From 1979 to 1980, Defensor Santiago served as Legal Officer of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at Geneva, Switzerland. She was assigned to