Jose Diokno

Jose Wright Diokno (born February 26, 1922 in Taal , Batangas Province , † February 27, 1987 in Manila ) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who advocated the observance of human rights.

Life

Attorney, Justice Minister and Senator

Diokno, son of the assistant judge at the Supreme Court Ramón Diokno and a British woman , first studied accounting at the University of De La Salle , where he graduated in 1939 as a certified public accountant summa cum laude . A subsequent postgraduate study of law at the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Manila (University of Santo Tomas), however, he had to break off because of the beginning of the Second World War , but continued his studies in his father's office and received later admission to the bar .

During his subsequent successful work as a lawyer, he dealt particularly with criminal law , but also with the right to vote . In addition, he was at times both legal advisor to the Nacionalista Party and to Arsenio Lacson , who was Mayor of Manila between 1952 and 1962 . During this time he was also involved in numerous professional associations and other social organizations such as the American Jurisdicature Society, Lawyers Literary Club, Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc., De La Salle Alumni Association and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

In 1961 he became Minister of Justice ( Justice Secretary ) in the cabinet of President Diosdado Macapagal , but resigned from this office in 1962, after he had previously been elected to the Senate for the first time . After his re-election in 1968, he was a member of the Senate between 1963 and 1972. In the following years he led numerous groups in support of human rights issues and was one of the opponents of the US military bases in the Philippines such as the US Naval Base Subic Bay .

As chairman of the Anti-Bases Coalition (ABC) in particular, he stated that the US military bases would perpetuate a colonial relationship . He therefore advocated shifting the Philippine economy away from its export bases in order to free them from the dependence on the USA, Japan and other main trading partners. He saw the Philippines in the future as a "place where nobody can push us around, not even the US-American imperialists ".

Opponent of the Marcos dictatorship and overthrow of the dictator

As a senator, he was thus to the opposition against President Marcos and was after the penalty imposed by this on September 21, 1972 martial law was arrested and spent nearly two years in detention without charge, and he temporarily in the cell of later shot senator and opposition leader Benigno Aquino II housed was. After his release he belonged to a group of lawyers who defended political prisoners who were not only leading members of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas but also so-called “oppressed little people” such as farmers.

Towards the end of the Marcos rule, he also belonged to a small group of opposition politicians called the Convenors Group , who, in the event of a change of power, agreed on Benigno Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino , as the presidential candidate in the 1986 elections.

Diokno, who as a nationalist campaigned for human rights in particular, enjoyed the reputation of both friends and political opponents because of his integrity and intelligence. However, his cancer , which broke out in 1984, prevented him from becoming one of the leading politicians of the subsequent period after the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986. Most recently, he was chairman of President Corazon Aquino, but resigned from this position in protest in January 1987 after 18 protesters were killed near the President's official residence, the Malacañang Palace .

After his death, President Aquino ordered a ten-day national memorial in his honor, calling him "a giant of men who defied the dictatorship of President Marcos with dignified and eloquent courage and who would be remembered for a long time".

Web links

• Biography on the Senate homepage
• THE NEW YORK TIMES: JOSE W. DOIKNO, EX-SENATOR; HEADED MANILA PEACE PANEL (March 1, 1987)