Career[edit edit]] United Nations Legal Officer [edit edit]] After a stint of ten years at the justice department, Santiago served as as Legal Officer of the UN High ommissioner for !efugees at "eneva, S#it$erland% She #as assigned to the onferences and &reaties Section% She 'ecame s(illed at treaty negotiation and drafting% She #as forced to resign #hen her father in the )hilippines )hili ppines developed prostate cancer% At At his 'edside, she promised to return to the )hilippines and serve her o#n country%[*+]
Regional Trial Trial Court Judge, Quezon City[edit edit]] r% Santiago #as appointed judge of the !egional &rial ourt of -ue$on ity, .etro .anila 'y )resident /erdinand .arcos% Her appointment #as e0ceptional, 'ecause she #as the youngest judge appointed to .etro .anila% /urther, /urther, she she #as e0empted from the the practice of first serving serving as a judge outside .etro .anila%[1] As !& judge, she immediately immediately attracted attention 'y proclaiming a 2no postponement3 policy% policy% At that time, cases #ere tried in segments that #ere usually a month apart, resulting in trials that too( years to finish% La#yers #ere prone to see( postponement of trial% As a result, trial judges scheduled ten or fifteen cases a day, so that they could ma(e up for cases postponed% Santiago #as different% She denied any motion to postpone trial% She scheduled only five cases a day, and heard each case% 4y this systematic method, she disposed of the highest num'er of cases in her first year in office% She started hearings promptly at +567 a%m% every day, at her courtroom on the eleventh floor of city hall% &here #ere only t#o elevators, so she #as (no#n to run up the stairs% She 'ecame nationally famous #hen she issued perhaps the first decision to rule against martial la#% At that time, alleged illegal pu'lic assem'lies #ere declared as crimes and #ere punisha'le 'y death% A large group of activist students from the University of the )hilippines and Ateneo, as #ell as activists in the film industry, staged a rally in a central 'usiness district, and denounced the /irst Lady for her e0cesses% &o retaliate, .arcos issued a )reventive etention Action order #hich authori$ed the military to hold suspects indefinitely, #ithout 'ail% &he students faced the dire prospect of missing their final e0ams and, for many of them, missing graduation% Santiago suspended hearings on all other pending cases, and conducted #hole8day trials% 9n the end, she issued the shoc(ing decision ordering or dering the military to allo# the students to post 'ail, thus releasing the students from detention% After promulgating her decision at the end of the day, Santiago drove herself to the state university, #here she #as teaching la#% U%)% U%)% la# students gave her a standing ovation% She #as hard#or(ing, stern, and scholarly% &he )hilippine :aycees, the )hilippine Lions, and the ;.A )hilippines all gave her a#ards for judicial e0cellence% [*]