award to Defensor Santiago. Most members of the House are against Defensor Santiago's anti-political dynasty bill which she introduced in Congress. Santiago's bill is backed by the Constitution itself, where it mandates both chambers of Congress to enact such a law. On December 5, 2017, the president officially nominated Defensor Santiago for the award, awaiting concurrence of both chambers of Congress to officially bestow the award. Defensor Santiago is the sixth person, the first Visayan, and the first and only woman to be nominated for the award. She is the sixth person to be immortalized in the 69-year old national roster. On December 11, 2017, the Senate approved the bestowing of the award to Defensor Santiago. On February 20, 2018, the House of Representatives approved the bestowing of the award to Defensor Santiago. On December 3, 2018, the prestigious Quezon Service Cross was officially posthumously conferred upon Santiago, making her the sixth recipient and first and only woman to be included in the country's highest accolade and roster. Political positions Domestic policy Federalism Defensor Santiago is not in favor of federalism, stating in one interview that if the country would turn Federalist, "[That] the masses and the entire electorate will not [be able to] choose who the president will be. We leave that choice to a group of politicians, and we know how those politicians act. Mostly, their actions are always attended by corruption." Charter Change Defensor Santiago was in favor of amending the Constitution of the Philippines to enhance foreign investments in the country and to mandate that all high posts in government (senator, representative, president, vice president, governor, mayor, vice mayor, secretaries, undersecretaries, etc.) should have additional qualifications which are 'a college graduate' and must pass a duly-accredited government examination. Numerous politicians in the country are only high school or elementary graduates, and most college graduate officials have never passed the Civil Service Examination for Professionals (CSE-P). She argues that positions in government like administrative assistant must pass the CSE-P as a qualification, 'why not higher posts too?'. Santiago, the then chairwoman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, said she was in favor of shifting to a parliamentary form of government in 2011. Anti-political dynasty Defensor Santiago was the principal author of the Anti-Dynasty Bill in the Senate and had been pushing for its immediate passage in Congress for more than a decade. South China Sea dispute