Senatorial Candidate Chel Diokno Puts Human Rights at Front and Center

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If you’re reading this, you’re part of the relatively small portion of the electorate who knows who Chel Diokno is.

Step outside your comfort zone, and you’ll find that most of the tarpaulins and posters that blanket public walls belong to administration bets like Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa. Sorties put together by Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago are a dime a dozen compared to the opposition’s Otso Diretso. The Hugpong jingles that play throughout every barangay drown out the debates that the Otso eagerly attend.

Voters who are disappointed with the majority of the candidates running for senator may be unaware of other options. If a candidate’s name is not on a movie poster, on the family tree of another politician, or on ads that run during every commercial break on primetime television, it's as if they don’t exist. It’s an uphill battle for candidates like Diokno, who lacks the political machinery that will lift his voice above the noise. But then again, he’s familiar with adversity.

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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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We spoke to him at the De La Salle University College of Law in Bonifacio Global City, not too far from where his father, former senator Pepe Diokno, was held as a political prisoner of the Marcos regime. Diokno was 11 years old at the time.

In tone and demeanor, Diokno bears all the characteristics of a winning senatorial candidate: a voice that resonates with warmth and gravitas; a stature that indicates both dignity and humility; and a passion that permeates through every word he speaks. These, along with a platform that puts human rights front and center, have made him a favorite among younger voters.

During our interview, in fact, a crowd of students gathered nearby. “Hi Dean!” they called out. Diokno gave them a friendly wave, inviting them to join him, and they giddily obliged.

In the polls, however, the excitement for Diokno isn’t as apparent. As of this writing, he’s well outside Pulse Asia’s Magic 12, despite winning the majority of university-held mock elections. His campaign team hopes the student demographic mobilizes in the coming days to help him garner more votes for the upcoming midterm elections. After all, it’s their future he’s fighting for.

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ESQUIRE PHILIPPINES: You're not afraid to show your sense of humor while campaigning. We remember the joke about keeping the life vest and the "Chel ka lang" line. Why do you show such candor?

CHEL DIOKNO: I think it's all about showing who I really am. I'm not running for any personal purpose or personal interest. I just want to let it all hang out, you know? It's probably a different approach from the typical, traditional politician who would want to create an image, but I'm not that way eh.

ESQ: Speaking of images, local publications and blogs call you a "Woke Lolo" in their headlines. How do you feel about the labels younger groups give you?

CD: At first, it intrigued me because I didn't know what it meant. So I asked my kids, "What does 'Woke Lolo' mean?" They said it's someone who's medyo mulat, someone who's “progresibong matanda.” Parang ganun yung pagka-explain sa akin.

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But it got me to think. I realized that if the young people call me a “Woke Lolo,” they must see others as... kung may "Woke Lolo," meron ding "Sleeping Lolo." Meron ding “Lolong Nagmumura Parati.” “Lolong Galit.” And it made me a bit sad, because it also made me realize that young people are looking for role models, and I think my generation—many of us—let them down. Marami sa amin, tumahimik lang. Hindi kami umimik nung nangyari yung EJKs (extrajudicial killings).

Marami ding hindi umimik sa amin nung nilalait ni Pangulo si Senator Leila de Lima. At marami ding hindi umimik nung... kitang-kita naman natin nung pumapasok yung China sa ating teritoryo.

It made me sad that many in my generation didn't listen to what the young people were looking for, and didn't lift a finger when they know that these things really shouldn't be happening.

ESQ: You seem to be a favorite among young voters, but how do you reach people in your generation or others?

CD: Those who are over 60 probably remember my father. When I go around, even to the palengkes, when I meet the older generation, they remember my dad a lot, so that doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

I guess it's those who are a bit younger than I am—I'm 58 so maybe the ones who are between 30 to 50 who don't really know me, and that's the challenge that I really have to face and overcome.

I'd say that it's really a big question of exposure, and that's where elections really aren't fair. Kasi kung mayaman yung kandidato, maraming pera, puwede siyang maglabas ng TV ad every day, and everyone will recognize them after a while. Whereas a candidate who might be deserving but doesn't have [those] kind of resources will have a really hard time coming out with television ads. So we had to devise a strategy that could circumvent the obstacle. And of course the more level playing field is online: social media. It wasn't really a choice more than something that we had to do.

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ESQ: Let's talk about your campaign. It's driven a lot by your advocacy: human rights. What drives that advocacy?

CD: It's something I've been doing all my life. Justice and human rights are like two sides of the same coin. When you talk about human rights and justice, you're really talking about accountability. When someone violates your rights—especially someone powerful—even if they are powerful, they should be held accountable.

When you talk about justice and human rights, you're also talking about empowerment. When a court recognizes the rights of a katutubo, of a worker, of a student, then that empowers that person or that sector. If you're talking, for example, about an urban poor community and their rights are recognized by the law, then that's a form of empowerment. It's a very powerful way of letting people realize they have a lot of dignity that is being respected in society.

To me, that's the biggest thing that's lacking in our country. We all want to stop corruption. We all want to stop criminality, especially organized crime. But nobody talks about the justice system. Politicians don't want to talk about it precisely because it's [about] accountability, and I think they're afraid to have a good justice system because they might be the first to be imprisoned.

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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"When you talk about human rights and justice, you're really talking about accountability. When someone violates your rights, even if they are powerful, they should be held accountable."

They don't want to talk about it because it's about empowerment, and if the electorate becomes enlightened, they probably won't vote them in the next time. If all they do is sing and dance in a campaign, that's not what the electorate is going to look for if they're “woke.” That's why I think it's so important to push this issue, and that's what I'm determined to do.

A lot of young people, they come to me, they tell me, “Oh, kayo po ang aking lodi, inspirasyon.” But I tell them it's the other way around. It's really the young people who pushed me to run. It's the young people who made me decide that... I cannot accept that my kids and you guys are going to live in a country where there's no accountability. Where you have impunity. Where you have corruption that's unchecked. Where you have organized crime that can't be stopped. How can we take that? How can we accept that?

I remember when the War on Drugs began in July of 2016, and we saw how much blood was being spilled on the streets. But no one wanted to say anything. Everyone was so afraid. One Sunday morning, I just couldn't stand it. I woke up and I wrote a post on Facebook. I said, “How can we accept that justice is coming from the barrels of guns?”

That's really the reason why I decided to do this. It's gotten to the point where silence is no longer an option. I can't just be quiet and let these things happen.

ESQ: Why do you think the non-youth demographic is afraid to speak out against injustice?

CD: They have a lot of baggage; put it that way. The working people have families to support. They have children. They don't want to become part of the list and maybe targeted. Older generations have businesses, and they're afraid that if they talk too much, then their businesses might be affected. There are really so many reasons. The bottom line is, it's really a climate of fear.

Lists have become weaponized. Whether there's evidence or not, any person's name can come out on a list of the President, a list of the PNP, a list of the barangay.

The lists now have gone beyond drugs. In the beginning, it was all drug lists. Narco list, drug list. Now you have red lists, where teachers, students, activists are being tagged—even lawyers are being tagged—as communists. It's so dangerous, because these are not evidence-based.

And I keep saying this: If there are dangerous people in our country, then why aren't cases being filed against them? If these people are really involved in drugs or in crime or in treasonous acts, then file cases. Why use lists?

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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"One Sunday morning, I just couldn't stand it. I woke up and I wrote a post on Facebook. I said, 'How can we accept that justice is coming from the barrels of guns?'”

The last time lists were used in our country was during the Japanese occupation, when the Japanese made lists of every Filipino who was fighting them, and targeted their families. The other time that lists were used in the world was during the time of Hitler, when they killed six million-plus Jews. That's how terrible the use of lists can be.

In our own country, according to our very own Supreme Court, from July 1, 2016 up to the end of November 2017, 20,322 people have already been killed in the War on Drugs. That's more than the number of people who can enter and sit in Araneta Coliseum. That's only for a year and a half. That doesn't include those killed from the whole of 2018 until now. That's easily 30,000-plus that have been killed in the War on Drugs. And the number, it's not abating. People are still getting killed every single day.

ESQ: Do you find that it more difficult to campaign when the President demonizes the very idea of human rights?

CD: It's a really, really big challenge to campaign in this kind of climate, where you have fear. Where you have anyone's name coming out on a list. Where the President has come out with a list of alleged narco-politicians. Where you have local governments afraid to help the opposition because they might be identified by Malacañang and singled out, and maybe put on lists as well.

Where you have unabated killing and violence that's happening every day; not just election-related—that's happening, as well—but also activists being killed, even environmental... Those who work in environmental causes have been killed. Doctors, lawyers, judges being killed. Poor people, especially, being killed in the War on Drugs. It's really a big challenge.

ESQ: Let's move on to some of the things you did in the course of your campaign. When did you learn to jet ski?

CD: (laughs) I don't know how to jet ski, actually!

You know, campaigning requires a lot of symbolism, I think, and we were just taking up the President on his challenge. He's the one who made the campaign promise that he [would] even jet ski to protect the West Philippine Sea. We were very disappointed that no one—not a single candidate in the administration slate—said a word about what's happening to our territory. Up to now, they have been so quiet.

I keep saying this: We're all Filipinos here. We all belong to the same country. Shouldn't your loyalty be to the country rather than to a single person or to your party? Why is no one saying a word from the other side?

The other thing that I think is so unfair and unjust is the way that they have been conducting their campaign. Ang gusto nila, parang padamihan nalang ng tarp. Ayaw nilang humarap sa debate. They don't come out when they're invited by television outfits, by radio [stations], by colleges and universities that want to hear their platform. They want to hear them talk about issues that are really important for the country. But they're not there. They never show up.

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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"We're all Filipinos here. We all belong to the same country. Shouldn't your loyalty be to the country rather than to a single person or to your party?"

What do they do? Padamihan ng TV ad, and then pag-nangangampaniya, tawanan, kantahan, sayawan. They're trying to reduce the level of conversation in campaigning to idiocy. I think that's really something that's not healthy for the country.

If you look at the rules of the Senate, they use the word “debate” dozens of times, because what you do in the Senate is debate. You bring up a bill. You argue over it with people inside the Senate who might not agree with you. You find ways to get them to agree, and eventually get it to pass the House. But they don't want to engage in debate. That, I think, shows the level of political immaturity of these candidates.

ESQ: Now that we've brought up the admin bets: Your platform has some similarities with them in terms of end goals, such as putting an end to crime, corruption, and endo. What makes your approach to these matters better than theirs?

CD: I wouldn't be one to judge, but what I can say is that I have seen our justice system up close. I know the flaws. I know the institutional obstacles. I know why it doesn't work. And I really, really firmly believe that we cannot ever develop sustainably as a country and as a people without fixing our justice system.

What are the flaws that I've seen? Number One: We've all seen how slow litigation is in the country. Nobody realizes that one of the main reasons why justice is so slow in the country is because we really lack judges and prosecutors. Twenty percent of our trial courts are vacant. We have no judges. Twenty percent of our prosecutor positions are vacant.

Imagine a hospital that lacks doctors and nurses; that's how our justice system is. And every day, you have new patients, new cases coming in. How can a workforce that is inadequate deal with existing and incoming cases? It's simply impossible. That backlog has been there for decades. Decades! If they were patients, they would be dead by now.

That's why you have cases that are decided after 25 years. Imagine, if justice delayed is justice denied, then so much of our justice in the country is really unjust. That is an issue that has never been discussed. I've never heard a politician talk about vacancies in the courts. That has to be addressed.

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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"I firmly believe that we cannot ever develop sustainably as a country and as a people without fixing our justice system."

When I've gone around, almost everyone I talk to doesn't have any confidence at all that justice works in the country. Why? Because the perception is very widespread that there's a lot of corruption, and the perception is very widespread that there's no transparency. And there is basis for that.

Why do I say that? It's so hard to get the SALN of a judge or a Justice. It's extremely difficult. To me, what I would want [is to] let them publish it. Every year, you file your SALN, you publish it. You post it on the Internet, at the very least.

The Ombudsman does not even conduct lifestyle [checks] of judges and Justices. I think the Ombudsman should be required [to do so], so that we can all be assured that every single judge and Justice in the country is not making money on the side. These are concrete measures that will public confidence in our judiciary. Once we can do that, then I think that's going to spur a lot of growth.

Now, the other thing I'm calling for is, let's create arbitration courts just like they do in Singapore. What's the advantage of a court of arbitration? The judge is not appointed by the President. The judges are decided by the opposing parties. There's a pool of accredited judges. They're not required to be lawyers. They could be experts in business if it's a business dispute, or construction or other things.

When the parties decide, “Okay, these are going to be our arbitrators,” there's no corruption kasi when the ones who chose them are the parties themselves. And second, the case will be decided very quickly.

There's already a precedent for that. We have a construction industry arbitration commission created by law, so that many construction disputes don't go to the courts anymore. They go to that arbitration commission, they choose their judges there.

Sometimes, the judges are engineers, architects rather than lawyers, so you have a very transparent system of resolving disputes that is much better than having to go to a court where you have a judge who's appointed by the President, who probably has a lot of utang na loob to those who helped him get this appointment. Who might be tempted by the money involved in that case to, you know, look for some form of compensation, and who is plagued with so many cases that you don't know how long it's going to take for them to decide.

If we could just put these measures into place, I think would go a long way in terms of making our justice system really work for the people.

ESQ: You advocate decentralization of power, but not through federalism. How do you intend to enable that decentralization, then?

CD: I think our existing system, where we have a law that provides for the decentralization and devolution of powers from the national government to the local government, is a good law. But it needs to be tweaked and improved. I'm speaking of the Local Government Code.

For example, the barangay justice system can be improved and strengthened by amendments in the Local Government Code that will train mediators at the barangay level, who could settle disputes between residents of the same barangay or adjoining barangays. That way, we could ensure that these cases are not going to reach the courts anymore. That's one.

Second, there is already a Supreme Court decision that just came out—very recently—which is now a final judgment that says the LGUs should receive a larger share from the national government. But it hasn't yet been implemented. If that can be done, then that will add a lot, as far as the ability of the LGUs to provide basic services to the people.

Next, I think, it's not simply a question of devolving the powers, but giving the local government officials the capability and the capacity, skills-wise and resources-wise. And technology can help a lot in terms of providing them with the tools they need to really work for the people.

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

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"I am looking forward to the day when I can be surrounded by young people who will be even more determined than I am to change things."

Again, at the back of all this, you still need a good justice system that can have accountability. When you have government officials, whether local or national, getting involved in corruption, they should know that, if they do that, they run a high risk of getting charged, arrested, and imprisoned.

Because right now, that's not happening. There's no certainty of punishment, so that a lot of people who are involved in this kind of monkey business, they think, “Oh, I can get away with it. Marami naman akong kaibigan diyan. Ang mga abogado ko are well-connected there,” and all of that. “Marami akong kaibigan na judge, et cetera, et cetera, kaya pag may mangyayari sa akin, makakalusot ako.” That kind of attitude has to change, and it can be done. It's been done in other countries. Why can't we do it here?

ESQ: How do you plan on continuing to fight the good fight, in case you don't win?

CD: The work I've been doing is the same work, even before I became a candidate. And it will be the same work even after these elections, if I am not elected. It's really my life's work. It's what I've been doing ever since I became a lawyer way back in 1989. It's something that I have always done, and I don't think I'll ever stop doing it.

ESQ: On the flipside, what's the first thing you intend on doing if you do win?

CD: Get to work. Buckle down and just do this. In fact, I am looking forward to the day when I can be surrounded by young people who will be even more determined than I am to change things for the country for the better.

PHOTO: Joseph Pascual

In this story: Produced by Clifford Olanday • Photographs by Joseph Pascual • Interview by Marco Sumayao

This story is part of our ongoing series featuring the candidates of the 2019 Philippine Senate Elections. For more, click the links below:

Samira Gutoc: "People on the fringes like us cannot participate fully."

Bam Aquino: "It’s a disservice to our country and democracy if the senate becomes monolithic."

Erin Tañada: "Stick to the core advocacies that you believe will uplift the lives of people."

Serge Osmeña: "You just hope that the people will see right, rather than see emotion."

Dr. Willie Ong: "Should I change myself in order to please them to get the votes?"

Florin Hilbay: "When I talk about the poor, I am talking about my own experience."

Bato dela Rosa: "I don’t think I will win much support when it comes to legislating the death penalty for corrupt politicians"

Sonny Angara: "I’m here because I want to do things. It’s as simple as that."

Nancy Binay: "It’s about accepting yourself whatever you look like."

“I cannot accept that my kids are going to live in a country where there's no accountability.”—Chel Diokno

ESQUIRE PHILIPPINES: You're not afraid to show your sense of humor while campaigning. We remember the joke about keeping the life vest and the "Chel ka lang" line. Why do you show such candor?

ESQ: Speaking of images, local publications and blogs call you a "Woke Lolo" in their headlines. How do you feel about the labels younger groups give you?

ESQ: You seem to be a favorite among young voters, but how do you reach people in your generation or others?

ESQ: Let's talk about your campaign. It's driven a lot by your advocacy: human rights. What drives that advocacy?

ESQ: Why do you think the non-youth demographic is afraid to speak out against injustice?

ESQ: Do you find that it more difficult to campaign when the President demonizes the very idea of human rights?

ESQ: Let's move on to some of the things you did in the course of your campaign. When did you learn to jet ski?

ESQ: Now that we've brought up the admin bets: Your platform has some similarities with them in terms of end goals, such as putting an end to crime, corruption, and endo. What makes your approach to these matters better than theirs?

ESQ: You advocate decentralization of power, but not through federalism. How do you intend to enable that decentralization, then?

ESQ: How do you plan on continuing to fight the good fight, in case you don't win?

ESQ: On the flipside, what's the first thing you intend on doing if you do win?