OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT
(Last of two parts)
This country missed many opportunities in the past.
It could have elected president the late Manila Mayor Arsenio H. Lacson, he who established the Manila Zoo, the nation’s first underpass, Boys Town, Ospital ng Maynila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. He maintained peace and order in the city, and championed good government. He criticized politicians and national leaders he suspected of being corrupt.
We, and many others of the older generation, had thought he would succeed Diosdado Macapagal in 1965. Cookie Diokno wrote that Lacson had agreed to campaign for the poor boy from Lubao in 1961 but on the condition that once elected president, he would appoint Pepe Diokno as secretary of justice. Ever the good guy with a bad mouth, “Arsenic” Lacson was charged in court many times by politicians and judges he criticized, and who else was his counsel but Diokno. The ex-future president had absolute trust in the legal skills and integrity of Diokno.
Lacson’s death in 1962 and the declaration of martial law in 1972 frustrated all that.
Diokno’s service to the nation as justice secretary was rather brief but undoubtedly a milestone in trying to break the yoke of corruption. As Cookie wrote: “…Dad is best remembered for his role in arresting and prosecuting Harry Stonehill.”
Pamana, the book, recalled that Stonehill was an American soldier who was assigned in the Philippines in World War II. He made a fortune by buying and selling army surplus cars and imported Christmas cards. He partnered with one Robert Brooks and owned 16 different corporations engaged in oil, cotton, cement, gas, hotels and real estate. He made a killing producing American-style cigarettes.
Pepe Diokno marshalled all evidence against Stonehill including those gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). He orchestrated the serving of 42 search warrants involving 200 NBI agents and raiding of 29 places. He also invited the press to the NBI headquarters so the public would know.
Pamana narrated that with the arrest of Stonehill and the filing of deportation cases, Diokno made the Filipinos proud with his assurance that “there will be no whitewash of the cases, and we will file them no matter who gets hurt…” The government demanded payment of back taxes from Stonehill amounting to a little over ₱113 million, or in 2020 prices, ₱13.2 billion. Diokno rejected any proposal to settle the tax obligations if the deportation cases were dropped.
Could this be the reason why Diokno was fired on May 19, 1962?
Pepe Diokno, according to Cookie, was not exactly a good driver. He could qualify to join the one-inch club. When he drove, he would be barely an inch or shorter from the vehicles on both sides. For this reason, his wife Nena, would always remind him, “Por favor, Pepe, cuidao.”
But in his public service, Pepe Diokno was always careful in using evidence as he was in his private practice of law. While he lost the battle against the bureaucracy, he won the hearts and trust of the Filipino people. They elected him senator in 1963, ranking third with more than 44 percent of the votes cast.
Even if he was of two minds on whether to seek reelection in 1969, Diokno was finally convinced to run again. The country’s situation had rapidly deteriorated and he thought he could be of some help. Pamana observed that many sectors had began to organize themselves into broad alliance and networks for pursuing real change. But the response of the state to these efforts was one of violence. The Filipino electorate reelected him with over 55 percent of the votes cast.
He championed the fight against the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on Aug. 21, 1971 because of the Plaza Miranda bombing. The Liberal Party leadership was nearly decimated. For him, that was hardly sufficient to nullify “our people’s most fundamental and precious liberties.” He later resigned from the Nacionalista Party whose head he had challenged in the High Court. For him, the only decent thing he could do was to fight from outside the party. Diokno took to the Senate floor to condemn the suspension.
When 1971 Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) delegate Eduardo Quintero exposed the bribery in the convention, the Senate directed the Committee on Justice to investigate Quintero’s allegation. When the Senate suspended the investigation, Diokno delivered a privilege speech on the floor and urged the Filipino people to resist oppression, expose corruption and act as Filipinos. Almost prescient, Diokno opposed the possible declaration of military rule.
Could his wife Nena be correct in reminding Pepe Diokno to be careful?
On the night martial law was declared, Diokno was among the 200-400 individuals arrested. Martial law suspended individual liberties including the freedom to stage rallies and demonstrations, closed all public and private schools and padlocked various media outfits.
The senator spent two years in detention.
Upon his release, he organized the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) to assist Filipinos obtain justice, free of charge. He made a documentary on human rights for the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) aptly called To Sing Our Own Song that spread like wild fire.
Like his forebears, Diokno was a nationalist. He organized the anti-bases coalition together with kindred spirits like Justice Jose B.L. Reyes and Chino Roces in 1983. During the same year, the Kilusan sa Kapangyarihan at Karapatan ng Bayan (Kaakbay) was formed, aimed at galvanizing the people against exploitation and manipulation.
And as fate would have it, Diokno, one of the key victims of martial law, was appointed by President Cory Aquino head of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights. The committee was to investigate the excesses of martial law. From March 18 to Nov. 15, 1986 alone, the committee received 691 cases involving extrajudicial executions and tortures.
As committee chair, Diokno in his sickbed wrote some desiderata called “The Keys to Peace” essentially proposing food and freedom as well as jobs and justice on Jan 6, 1987. But on Jan. 27, 1987, he saw how the Mendiola massacre unfolded on television. Thirteen farmers were killed and 39 sustained gunshot wounds while 20 suffered minor injuries during a protest rally demanding genuine land reform. Diokno together with three other Board members resigned their posts. He also withdrew from the government peace panel.
Pepe Diokno succumbed to cancer on Feb. 27, 1987, a day after his 65th birthday. What else he could have done was certainly another missed opportunity.