MANILA – The House of Representatives has concurred with a Senate resolution conferring on the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago the Quezon Service Cross, making her the sixth Filipino to be given the highest national recognition of outstanding civilian service.
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 8 was adopted by the House in plenary on Tuesday’s session, which formalized the approval by Congress.
In December last year, President Rodrigo Duterte nominated Santiago for the award. The nomination requires approval by Congress.
Since its creation in 1946, only five people, to date, have been awarded the Quezon Service Cross:
-Carlos P. Romulo, diplomat and the first Asian to serve as UN General Assembly President
-Emilio Aguinaldo, first Philippine president
-Ramon Magsaysay, Philippine president
-Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, senator and democracy icon
-Jesse Robredo, Interior Secretary
Magsaysay, Aquino, and Robredo were given the award after their deaths.
The award of the Quezon Service Cross had been made by virtue of the provisions of Joint Resolution No. 4 of the Congress of the Philippines, dated October 21, 1946, This resolution created the Quezon Service Cross, “for exemplary service to the nation in memory of the late President Manuel L. Quezon.”