Official statement on disbarment case against Sen. Santiago

The charges made in the disbarment case against Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago are all lies, manifesting an intent to destroy the senator's good name. The disbarment case was filed just some time after the disqualification case was filed against her in the Commission on Elections. The charges made in the disbarment case are eerily similar to those in the disqualification case. Both complaints contain rehashed smear campaigns thrown against the senator in the past.

Senator Santiago has consistently ranked among the top three in various senatorial surveys. Obviously, there is a plot to cast aspersions on the senator's reputation to affect her chances in the May elections, since these cases have surfaced only now.

We do not even know who this Efren Battad is. His audacity is unbelievable-he files a disbarment case against someone he doesn't know personally, with no material allegations to boot! Mr. Battad may be part of a huge dirty plot orchestrated by a certain government official whom the senator has exposed numerous times for graft and corruption.

The public may rest assured that Senator Santiago will remain steadfast in her commitment to promote good governance by exposing corruption and incompetence in the government. We say to her enemies, "Bring it on!"