Jose Wright Diokno (; February 26, 1922 – February 27, 1987), also known as "Ka Pepe," was a Filipino statesman, nationalist, and lawyer. Regarded as the "Father of Human Rights" in the country, he served as a Senator of the Philippines, Secretary of Justice, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights (forerunner of the Commission on Human Rights), and founder of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), which is the oldest national organization composed of human rights lawyers. Diokno is the only person to top both the Philippine Bar Examination and the board exam for Certified Public Accountants (CPA). His career was dedicated to the promotion of human rights, the defense of Philippine sovereignty, and the enactment of pro-Filipino economic legislation.
In 2004, Diokno was posthumously conferred the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Supremo—the second highest honor in the Philippines. February 27, his death anniversary and a day after his birthday, is celebrated in the Philippines as Jose W. Diokno Day.
Early life and education
Jose W. Diokno was born in Ermita, Manila on February 26, 1922, to Ramón Diokno y Marasigan, a former senator and Justice of the Supreme Court from Taal, Batangas, and Leonor May Wright y Garcia, an American mestiza. Diokno was the youngest son and the sixth of eight children, and had some half-siblings from Ramón's first spouse, Martha Fello Diokno, who died years before the birth of Diokno. Diokno grew up at 48 Alhambra Street, Ermita, Manila and was baptized at Ermita Church on September 3, 1922.
Ramón Diokno was considered an anti-imperialist nationalist as senator and was one of four senators to oppose the American Parity Rights Amendment. Jose's grandfather was Ananías Diokno, a navy general and governor in the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War in the Visayas. Ananías's maternal great-great grandfather was Félix Berenguer de Marquina y Fitzgerald, who was viceroy of New Spain and governor-general of the Philippines from 1788 to 1793. Berenguer de Marquina had an extramarital affair with a Chinese mestiza from Cagsawa, Albay named Demetria Sumulong y Lindo and sired one daughter. He abandoned this family to repatriate to Spain and later became the lieutenant-general of the navy in 1799. He was said to be an incompetent but persevering governor. Despite this mixed ancestry, Diokno would later often say that he was "100% Filipino."
As a young 12-year-old boy, Diokno would go with his father to trials in the provinces. He would carry his father's bag, and sit on a small chair reserved for him behind the counsel's table. He learned English through a private tutor during the American Commonwealth period, as the family usually spoke in Spanish. Growing up, Diokno relished having Spanish dishes at home, namely tapas or side dishes such as angulas, white embutido, galantina, and chorizos. He liked Filipino food as well and enjoyed rice mixed with gatas ng kalabaw (carabao's milk), raw eggs, and tapang usa (cured venison). Diokno also joined Nilad Lodge No. 12, a masonic lodge, as his father and many revolutionaries did before him.
In 1937, after repeated acceleration Diokno graduated high school as the valedictorian at De La Salle College (DLSC), and went on to take a Bachelor of Science degree in commerce, also at DLSC. He was an ROTC lieutenant, dramatist, writer, and student leader. He later developed a skill in photography and owned a studio. Diokno initially wanted to study mechanical engineering, but eventually compromised with his parents to take up commerce since his parents wanted a major that featured legal studies. He realized he enjoyed the legal courses the most and decided to take up law once he finished his undergraduate studies. He graduated from college summa cum laude. Diokno took the CPA board examinations in 1940—for which he had to secure special dispensation, since he was too young. He topped the CPA with a grade of 91.18. However, since Diokno was too young when he passed the CPA exam, he could not receive a proper license until he was twenty-one, which led him to pursue his law studies like his half-brother.
After Diokno enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in 1940, his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of WWII in 1941 in his second year. When the war was over, he was granted a special dispensation by the Supreme Court of the Philippines and was allowed to take the Philippine Bar Examination despite having never completed his degree. He topped the 1944 bar exam together with a 24 year old future ally named Jovito Salonga with a score of 95.3, the highest since the language of instruction switched to English. As a reward, he took a solo vacation in the United States, where he would frequently call Carmen "Nena" Icasiano, a commerce student from Bulacan studying at Far Eastern University. They met in 1946 at a dinner party hosted by future Manila mayor Arsenio Lacson. Diokno was with Baby Quezon, who was the daughter of Manuel Quezon, while Carmen was with an American colonel, but both immediately spent the evening conversing with each other after being assigned to the same table. Diokno started courting her, refusing to listen to his father's wishes to marry Chief Justice José Abad Santos's daughter. Diokno quickly returned from his trip to propose to her after he found out on the telephone that she had tuberculosis and had missed seeing him. He married Icasiano at Ermita Church in 1949.
Rising lawyer
Immediately after topping the Bar exam, Diokno embarked on his law practice at his father's bupete or law office, handling and winning high-profile cases including Vera v. Avelino, G.R. L-543, on behalf of his father, Sen. Ramón Diokno, who let the young Diokno quickly take over the bupete. Diokno also successfully fought libel charges against radio personality and Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson, who was a close friend and would often visit Diokno and his wife in the wee hours at their home in Parañaque to prepare them breakfast. Diokno would in turn edit Mayor Lacson's newspaper columns for Free Philippines. Historians learned a few years after Mayor Lacson's sudden passing that Lacson even intended for Diokno to be his running mate, as the Manila Mayor's fame made him the top presidential candidate for the 1965 election. Diokno served in different committees under President Ramon Magsaysay, and by 1958, Diokno gained enough stature to be selected to join a special committee to investigate the Department of Finance. He was later invited to return to investigate anomalies happening in the Bureau of Supply Corrections.
Secretary of Justice With his reputation as a legal practitioner established and secured, in December 1961, Diokno found out through the news that he was to be appointed as Secretary of Justice by President Diosdado Macapagal through Mayor Lacson's influence.
In March 1962, Diokno ordered a raid on a firm owned by Harry S. Stonehill, an American businessman who was suspected of tax evasion and bribing public officials, among other crimes. Diokno's investigation of Stonehill further revealed corruption within government ranks, and as Secretary of Justice, he prepared to prosecute those involved. However, President Macapagal intervened, negotiating a deal that absolved Stonehill in exchange for his deportation, then ordered Diokno to resign. Diokno only learned of his resignation from the news and received death threats from supporters of the president, which prompted him to rely on Mayor Lacson's special security. Diokno questioned Macapagal's actions, saying, "How can the government now prosecute the corrupted when it has allowed the corrupter to go?" Macapagal would become unpopular and eventually lose the next election in 1965 to another controversial politician also connected with Stonehill named Ferdinand Marcos.
Senator
In 1963, Diokno ran for senator under the Nacionalista Party and won with almost half of the popular vote.
His laws and bills were often considered nationalistic in essence, as he called for the creation of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, which would ban discrimination of Filipinos in American companies. The infamous ex-president of San Miguel Corp. named Andy Soriano of the Philippine Association and US Ambassador Bill Blair Jr. controversially fought to have the bill vetoed before they stepped down. Diokno often fought American policies that involved transfer pricing.
For his performance as legislator and fight for nationalism, Diokno was named Outstanding Senator by the Philippines Free Press from 1967 to 1970, making him the only legislator to receive the recognition for four successive years. In 1968, Diokno was awarded as the Outstanding CPA in Government Service by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Diokno also served as the delegate for many commissions including the United Nations General Assembly in the middle of the 1960s. Diokno was also honored as the most outstanding senator by the Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA) with a PGEA Plaque of Honor in December 1971, among other awards.
Chairmanship of the Economic Affairs Committee
Senator Diokno became chairman of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, and worked for the passage of pro-Filipino legislation, including what is considered to be the most important incentive law in the country, RA 5186, also known as the Investment Incentives Act of 1967, which provides incentives to mostly Filipino investors and entrepreneurs that would place control of the Philippine economy predominantly in the hands of Filipinos. The law would also be the first groundbreaking initiative of the Philippine economy to gradually step out of its import substitution mindset. It also led to the foundation of the Board of Investments, the premier government agency responsible for propagating investments in the Philippines.
Diokno then authored RA 6173 or the Oil Industry Commission Act of 1971, which created the Oil Industry Commission (OIC) to regulate oil pricing in different companies. This eventually led to the dominance of three oil companies in Caltex, the alternative name of the American corporation Chevron, Petron, a local partner of Middle-Eastern Saudi Aramco and is owned by the brewery San Miguel Corporation, and Shell based in the Netherlands.
Laws and bills authored
Investment Incentives Act, RA 5186; Export Incentives Act, RA 6135; Oil Industry Commission Act, RA 6173; Joint Resolution No. 2; Revised Election Law; An Act Further Amending the Armed Forces Retirement Act, RA 4902; Equal Pay for Equal Work Act; Movie Industry Bill; Bill to Streamline the Appeals Process at the Court of Agrarian Relations; Bill to Provide Benefits to Municipal and City Judges; Bill to Create Circuit Criminal Courts; Bill to Nationalize Domestic Credit Usage;
Civil rights activism
When Marcos suspended the fundamental legal right of the writ of habeas corpus following the bombing of the Plaza Miranda gathering of Liberal Party members, Diokno resigned from the Nacionalista Party on August 31 in protest and took to the streets. Sen. Diokno called on students to start protesting against the administration, anticipating that Marcos, who was nearing the end of his last term, would declare martial law and change the constitution to give himself absolute power.