# Chel Diokno

Jose Manuel Tadeo "Chel" Icasiano Diokno (Tagalog:, born February 23, 1961) is a Filipino lawyer, educator, human rights advocate, and broadcaster. He serves as the chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law (now Tañada-Diokno School of Law), and the chairman of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation. He has served as a special counsel for the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. He was a candidate for the Senate of the Philippines in both the 2019 Philippine Senate election and the 2022 Philippine Senate election. Diokno also co-hosts radio programs such as Oras at Bayan on Veritas 846 and Rekta: Agenda ng Masa on DZRH and DZRH News Television.

## Early life and education

Chel Diokno was born on February 23, 1961, in Pasay City as the eighth of ten children to human rights lawyer Jose W. Diokno, who later became a Senator, and Carmen "Nena" Icasiano. He is the great-grandson of Ananías Diokno, a leader of the Visayans during the Philippine–American War, and the grandson of Ramón Diokno, a nationalist who served as Senator and Supreme Court Associate Justice.
Diokno completed his elementary and secondary education at La Salle Green Hills. As a student, he was the student council leader, a member of the varsity basketball team, and developed an interest in cycling and aikido, where he earned a black belt.
In 1982, Diokno earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He studied law at the University of the Philippines College of Law for one year before transferring to Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the United States, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctor in 1986. He passed the Bar Examination of the State of Illinois in 1987. After his father's death, he returned to the Philippines and passed the Philippine Bar Examination in 1988, beginning his law practice the following year.

## Legal career

Chel Diokno passed the bar examination in the State of Illinois, USA, and subsequently in the Philippines. Upon returning to the Philippines in 1987, he embarked on a career as a lawyer and human rights advocate.
Diokno is a member and the current chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). In addition to handling landmark cases, he has regularly served as an amicus curiae in the Supreme Court.

### Notable cases

* Diokno was part of the team of FLAG lawyers who prosecuted the 27 police officers implicated in the 1995 Kuratong Baleleng rubout case.
* In the NBN–ZTE deal corruption scandal, he served as the counsel for Jun Lozada, the whistleblower and lead witness in the Ombudsman's cases against former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) head Romulo Neri and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos.
* In 2007, he, along with fellow FLAG lawyers Theodore Te and Ricardo Sunga III, petitioned and were granted by the Supreme Court to issue Writs of Amparo for Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, two brothers who were allegedly tortured by military agents.
* In 2008, he secured the release of the "Tagaytay 5," who were allegedly illegally detained by the Philippine National Police.
* Together with Te, Diokno represented several media organizations in a petition against the Arroyo administration. The case involved members of ABS-CBN, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Probe Productions, Newsbreak, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, among others, who were allegedly rounded up for their "illegal" coverage of the Manila Peninsula siege.
* Diokno served as the lead lawyer, alongside Te, for Rappler CEO and founder Maria Ressa against the Duterte administration. One notable case he handled was People of the Philippines v. Santos, Ressa and Rappler.

## Government service

In the 1990s, Diokno served in the Commission on Human Rights under Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. He was also a member of the Committee on Human Rights and Due Process at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
In 2001, Diokno was the private prosecutor in the impeachment proceedings against then-President Joseph Estrada. That same year, he became General Counsel of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigation) under Senator Joker Arroyo. In 2004, he was appointed Special Counsel at the Development Bank of the Philippines.
Until 2019, Diokno served as the Presidential Adviser on Human Rights at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and was a member of the Panel of Arbitrators at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

## Academe

In 2006, Diokno established the Diokno Law Center, which provides legal training to various agencies, including the Commission on Elections, the Public Attorney's Office, the Philippine National Police, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
In 2009, he founded the De La Salle University College of Law and served as its founding dean. Additionally, he taught at Far Eastern University during its collaboration with DLSU and at Ateneo de Manila University before 2009.

## Political career
### 2019 and 2022 Philippine Senate campaigns

In the 2019 Philippine general election, Diokno ran for a seat in the Senate under the Otso Diretso coalition, which opposed President Rodrigo Duterte's human rights record. He did not win, placing 21st with 6,308,065 votes.
On July 19, 2019, the PNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed charges against Diokno and other opposition members for "sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice." These charges were related to the "Bikoy" videos. On February 10, 2020, he was cleared of all charges.
On June 12, 2021, he was named among the six nominees of 1Sambayan, a coalition aiming to field a single candidate against President Duterte's successor in the 2022 Philippine presidential election. Despite this, he stated that he was honored by the nomination but preferred to focus on his Free Legal Helpdesk and other forms of service.
On September 15, 2021, Diokno announced his candidacy for the Senate in the 2022 Philippine Senate election. He filed his candidacy on October 7, as a new member of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KANP) party. He was included in the senatorial slate of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo, as well as the Labor and Ecology Advocates for Democracy (LEAD) senatorial slate of presidential candidate Leody de Guzman as a guest candidate. Despite these endorsements, he was defeated again, placing 19th with 10,020,008 votes.

### 2025 Philippine House of Representatives campaign

On May 14, 2024, Diokno announced his intention to run for the Senate for a third time in the 2025 elections. However, on September 18, 2024, Diokno became a member of Akbayan. Diokno later announced that he shall vie for a seat in the House of Representatives through party-list route as Akbayan's first nominee.

## Other career

Diokno holds several current corporate and policy positions, including:
* Chairman of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation
* Chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group

## Political Positions
### Human Rights

Diokno has consistently advocated for human rights through various roles, including:
* His law practice with the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)
* His service as counsel to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
* His role as the founding Dean of the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno School of Law

### Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos

As the descendant of former Senator and Martial Law critic Jose W. Diokno, Chel Diokno has taken a stand against the historical negationism and denialism regarding the Philippines' Martial Law era under Ferdinand Marcos.

## Authored books

Diokno has written three books: Diokno On Trial: The Techniques And Ideals Of The Filipino Lawyer (The Complete Guide To Handling A Case In Court), published by the Diokno Law Center in 2007 and considered the main staple in trial courses; Civil And Administrative Suits As Instruments Of Accountability For Human Rights Violations, published by the Asia Foundation in 2010, and "Model Pleadings of Jose W. Diokno Volume 1: Supreme Court" published by the Diokno Law Center in 2020. He has also written news articles on forensic DNA, electronic evidence, anti-terrorism legislation, media law, and judicial reform.

## Filmography

Diokno did a voiceover for some scenes of the 2018 film BuyBust.

## Personal life

Diokno is the son of Filipino nationalist Senator Jose W. "Ka Pepe" Diokno, the acknowledged father of human rights in the Philippines and intellectual leader against the Marcos regime. His sister, Maris Diokno, is a senior administrator in the University of the Philippines system and is a former chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Diokno married a writer named Divina Aromin; their eldest son is the filmmaker Pepe, who was named after his grandfather. Their eldest daughter Laya Elena became a lawyer in 2022.

### Ancestry

Ancestors of Chel Diokno :