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PNoy confirms he is Sen Miriam's best man — Lacierda


No less than President Benigno Aquino III will be the best man when Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and her husband, former Interior Undersecretary Narciso Santiago, renew their wedding vows next month. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the President confirmed the information to him after the latter departed for Thailand on Thursday for a two-day state visit there. Lacierda then relayed the same information to Palace reporters via text messages. The renewal of vows of the Santiagos will be on June 19 at the Manila Cathedral. Incidentally, Santiago served as Immigration commissioner and Agrarian Reform secretary during the incumbency of the late President Corazon Aquino, Noynoy's mother. Defensor Santiago had earlier said that she invited all the living presidents of the country in her renewal of marital vows, except for former President Fidel Ramos who defeated her in the 1992 presidential elections. "There is no law that compels me to invite people I actively dislike," she said. Former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (now Pampanga 2nd district representative) will be among the principal sponsors. The others will be GMA Network chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe Gozon, SM Group of Companies president Teresita Sy Coson, Manila Bulletin owner Emilio Yap, Philippine Daily Inquirer chairperson Marixi Prieto, SMC chairman and CEO Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr., Chief Justice Renato Corona, Justice Consuelo Ynarez Santiago, PDI’s Marizi Prieto, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos and Vice President Jejomar Binay. Former Senate colleague Manuel Roxas II and his wife broadcaster Korina Sachez-Roxas will be among the secondary sponsors (candle), together with TV5 chairman and chief executive officer Manny Pangilinan and Evelyn Singson (veil); Sen. Manny Villar and wife former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar (cord); and Isabel Ongpin and former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral (Bible bearers). Members of the entourage will include Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Juan Miguel Zubiri, Edgardo Angara, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja Elizalde, and former beauty queen Gemma Cruz Araneta. Also invited are Filipino boxing icon and Sarangani Rep Manny Pacquiao, whom the senator lashed for opposing the passage of the reproductive health bill, his wife Jinkee and his mother Dionisia. [See: Miriam to invite Pacquiao, mom to wedding anniversary] The wedding will be officiated by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News

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