The Agham Road and BIR Road in Quezon City were renamed after the late former Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. allowed the bill proposing it to lapse into law.
The Republic Act 11963 or an "Act Renaming the Agham Road and the BIR Road in Quezon City, stretching from North Avenue and traversing through Quezon Avenue up to East Avenue, into Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue, has officially become a law on 12 October, according to the Presidential Communications Office.
The newly-enacted law directs the Department of Public Works and Highways to issue the necessary rules, orders, and circulars to implement the provisions of the law within 60 days of its effectivity.
RA 11963 was approved by the House of Representatives on 21 March and passed the scrutiny by the Senate on 14 August, respectively.
Senators Sonny Angara, Alan Peter Cayetano and Manuel "Lito" Lapid previously authored Senate Bill 1888, dated 15 February, to pay tribute to the late Iron Lady of Asia and "honor her life-long public service and unparalleled contributions to shaping Philippine governance."
Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. sponsored the measure in the upper chamber emphasizing Defensor-Santiago's "unwavering dedication to public service "as she displayed remarkable achievements in the judicial, executive and legislative branches of the government.
The former senator left a very successful career for almost five decades and held numerous high-level positions in the Executive Department and headed the Bureau of Immigration and Department of Agrarian Reform.
As a three-term senator, Defensor-Santiango authored the highest number of bills and resolutions filed in the chamber.
She likewise authored many landmark laws that truly benefited the public.
The senator was also the first Filipino and the first Southeast Asian from a developing state to become a judge at the International Criminal Court, where she served for nine years since 2011.
As Asia's Iron Lady, she advocated global justice.
She was also the first Filipino elected as commissioner for the International Development Organization and served as a legal officer at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland.
Defensor-Santiango was also a recipient of the country's most prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service.
She passed away at the age of 71 on 29 September 2016, after suffering from lung cancer complications.
Based on the Official Gazette, the RA 11963 would lapse into law after 30 days of receipt, if the President does not act on a proposed law submitted by Congress.
It takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.