Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago was a Filipino scholar, academic, lawyer, judge, author, and politician who served in all three branches of the Philippine government: judicial, executive, and legislative. Defensor Santiago was named one of The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 1997 by The Australian. She was known for being a long-serving Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, an elected judge of the International Criminal Court, and the sole woman recipient of the Philippines' highest national honor, the Quezon Service Cross.

In 1983 she had become the youngest presiding judge in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. Known as the "Fighting Judge," she handled a record fifty cases a month by refusing to tolerate delays and postponements. She gained a reputation for strict impartiality in applying the law. "No bribes or extortion" was the first rule of her courtroom.

As commissioner of Immigration and Deportation, DEFENSOR SANTIAGO set out to show that a "traditionally corrupt government agency can be reformed." With breathtaking decisiveness, she threw out the fixers, transferred suspected bribe-takers from sensitive positions, and filed administrative charges against corrupt employees. She swept away corruption-breeding disorder and red tape. She declared war on crime syndicates and exposed drug pushers, pedophiles, gunrunners, and passport forgers.

Confronting the staggering consequences of her country's graft-driven "open-door" immigration system, DEFENSOR SANTIAGO sought simple yet effective solutions: self-deportation with amnesty for certain illegal aliens, and, for close to 500,000 other overstaying foreigners, an opportunity to legalize their Philippine residency. The hefty fee the latter pay goes to the state, not to bribe-takers.

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation's board of trustees recognizes her bold and moral leadership in cleaning up a graft-ridden government agency, making her one of the recipients of the Asia's Nobel Prize. 

In recognition of her timeless achievements and her contributions to the Philippines, we move to petition the renaming of AGHAM ROAD in QUEZON CITY to "MIRIAM DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO AVENUE". 

Through this effort, we hope to promote her legacy to the future generations of Filipinos with hopes that they will emulate the exemplary leadership of the late Senator. 

Located at the heart of Quezon City, Agham Road is the best road to carry the name "MIRIAM DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO AVENUE" for its geographic position. Along this road sits the most prestigious academic and judicial institutions of the Philippines, such as the Ombudsman and the Philippine Science High School.