MDS relived in “Harana Para Kay Miriam”
The death anniversary of the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago capped off at an emotional high note at the Loyola Memorial Park on September 29.
Youth volunteers, and Len Defensor(center) joined the get-together. Photo by Amabelle San Pedro/THE FOURTH
The commemoration ended with a small get-together that was called “Harana Para Kay Miriam” where youth volunteers, closest friends, and family gathered to relive the memory of the “Iron Lady of Asia.”
Youth volunteers, and Len Defensor(center) joined the get-together. Photo by Amabelle San Pedro/THE FOURTH
Atty. Rissa Ofilada, one of the late senator’s closest friends, organized the event along with other volunteers from the Youth Reform Movement.
“How do you show your love? sabi namin, ‘Harana’. It’s how we want to show her how we feel,” Ofilada said. (How do you show your love? We said, ‘Harana’. It’s how we want to show our love.)
Mass and Candle-lighting
A mass opened the event at around 6 p.m., led by Fr. Jobel Palermo, along with the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Bagong Himig Serenata.
Youth volunteers went emotional during the candle-lighting ceremony, where they expressed their mournings a year after the late senator’s death.
One of them, EJ Clamor, shared pickup lines to the guests, a feat that was well-associated with the late senator.
“Finish line ka ba?” he asked the crowd. “Sana hindi. Sana hindi pa ito ang finish line ng iyong paglalakbay.” (Are you a finish line? I wish you weren’t. I wish this is not the finish line of your journey.)
The Defensor Siblings
A surprise visit from a “Miriam Defensor-Santiago” impersonator drew out laughter from the crowd, and even goofily answered questions from the late senator’s siblings.
The "reunion" of the Defensor siblings. Photo by Amabelle San Pedro/THE FOURTH
“Do not live other people’s dreams,” Jess Dizon, also known as “Miriam Defensor-Santiago,” said in-between the jokes.
Former-general Benjamin Defensor and Len Defensor, siblings of the late senator were also present. The retired general even serenaded the crowd with Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” and together with Atty. Ofilada’s “The Prayer” by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.
Both the Defensor siblings expected the event by the youth, knowing how their sister was an advocate of that sector.
“Nung pumasok na siya [MDS] sa gobyerno at na-expose na siya sa mga katiwalian sa ating society, dun na siya nagkaroon ng paniniwala na magkakaroon ng isang lider na pwedeng pangungunahan ang mga youth. Pwedeng pangunahan ang bansa para mapalitan ito lahat,” Ben Defensor stated.
(When she entered the government and was exposed to the corruption in the society, she developed a belief that there should be a leader that could lead the youth, the nation, to change everything.)
Ben and Len Defensor also shared the things that they missed the most about their sister.
The former general said that he missed the cakes that her sister used to bake for him when they were kids.
On the other hand, Len Defensor missed their phone calls, fondly recalling that for 25 years, they would talk on the phone every week.
“And I miss my walking encyclopedia,” Len Defensor added.
Both the siblings recalled how their sister loved books and her dedication to reading.
“Because I could not stop for death, it kindly stopped for me. The carriage held just but the two of us - and immortality,” Ben Defensor indirectly quoted from Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” saying that this was the phrase that MDS liked and then became her life.
Len Defensor said that she did not have any words for her sister.
“I thought she would live forever. So, I don’t think I have any words for her.”
Later, the Defensor siblings, together with the faux Defensor-Santiago, posed for the cameras in a little “reunion.”
“Harana Para Kay Miriam” was the last event held for Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s first death anniversary.
Earlier that day, a commemorative mass was also held in the morning at the Loyola Memorial Park.
To coincide with the events that day, the hashtag #MiriamIsForever was used and later trended on Twitter as netizens relived the memory of the late senator.
