Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago was a Filipino scholar, academic, lawyer, judge, author, and stateswoman 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 female recipient of the Philippines' highest national honor, the Quezon Service Cross.

The Quezon Service Cross is the highest national recognition of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to only a handful of Filipinos since its creation in 1946.