Chel Diokno: Legal expertise in the impeachment spotlight

'I've been in practice for almost 36 years, I am used to court proceedings,' Chel Diokno says a day after his impeachment court performance that led to an approved request for Duterte's financial records Congressman Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno was calm, cool, and collected amid persistent questioning from senator-siblings Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano on Tuesday, July 21, during the seventh day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Diokno articulated the importance of the prosecution’s motions to subpoena Duterte’s financial records and rebutted claims that their request amounted to a fishing expedition. At the end of the proceedings, the court ruled in their favor. “This is a big step forward insofar as the presentation of Article 2 (unexplained wealth) is concerned,” Diokno said on Wednesday, July 22. The impeachment court is a familiar ground for Diokno, who also served as one of the private prosecutors in the unfinished impeachment trial of then-president Joseph Estrada from 2000 to 2001. That proceeding was aborted after the second People Power uprising forced Estrada out of Malacañang. Today, Diokno is one of the 11 public prosecutors in Duterte’s trial. It’s a role that became increasingly likely as early as May 2025, after the victory of his party-list group, Akbayan, became certain. That trial, though, did not push through after the Supreme Court declared the House’s impeachment of Duterte as unconstitutional. Since then, he has expressed readiness to prosecute Vice President Duterte. “We have long called for accountability of our top officials. We all know that impeachment is the only way we can hold an incumbent high-ranking official accountable,” he said in a Rappler interview in July last year. He was elected to the same prosecutor role in May this year, after the House impeached Duterte for a second time. Diokno carries forward a family legacy rooted in law and public service. He is the son of the late statesman Jose Diokno, widely regarded as the father of human rights advocacy in the Philippines, and the grandson of former Supreme Court justice Ramon Diokno. A philosophy graduate from the University of the Philippines, he pursued his law degree in Northern Illinois University and qualified for the Illinois Bar in 1986. His father’s death later brought him back to the Philippines, where he went on to pass the Philippine Bar in 1988. Early in his legal career, he practiced at the Diokno Law Office and later took on the role of litigation head and partner at Moncupa, Diokno & De Los Reyes Law Firm. In 2003, Diokno became chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the Philippines’ oldest network of human rights lawyers. Six years later, he served as the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, now called the Tañada-Diokno School of Law. Diokno dedicated much of his legal work to providing free legal representation to marginalized sectors and victims of state abuses. These include: MV Doña Paz disaster: Diokno was one of the lawyers who fought for justice for more than 4,000 lives claimed after the passenger ferry collided with oil tanker MT Vector, making it the biggest maritime disaster in the Philippines. Together with US counterparts, they pursued a class-action civil suit that took nearly three decades to resolve. Manalo brothers: He successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a landmark Writ of Amparo for Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, who were abducted in Bulacan for being suspected members of the New People’s Army. Maria Ressa cyber libel case: He served as counsel of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He argued that the case posed a threat to press freedom and the country’s justice system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Diokno had also established his Free Legal Helpdesk which sought to provide pro-bono legal assistance to those who could not afford them. He was also elected chairperson of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation in 2022. He held advisory positions in the government. He was part of the Presidential Human Rights Committee under presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, and was presidential adviser on human rights to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines from 2017 to 2019. Diokno has drawn the ire of the Vice President’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who in 2020 mocked his appearance and accused him and the opposition of spreading black propaganda amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Third time’s the charm for Diokno in elective politics. He mounted unsuccessful Senate campaigns in 2019 and 2022, before finally winning a House seat in 2025, representing party-list race topnotcher Akbayan. His advocacies include labor and economic rights, gender equality, youth education, and anti-corruption. He has been opposed to the death penalty and political dynasties. On days 6 and 7 of the trial, Diokno spoke on behalf of the prosecution and asserted that the impeachment court has the constitutional authority over the Vice President’s bank and tax records. Diokno didn’t fluster, even when Senator Pia Cayetano invoked a 1967 Supreme Court ruling on a case whose respondent was his father. Diokno said a subpoena is not intrusive, as opposed to a search warrant, which was the subject of that landmark decision. Diokno, after the crucial win, said his years of litigation experience proved to be beneficial in the impeachment court. “That’s a big challenge. It’s tiring to stand (at the court) for hours. But I can say I have some experience arguing in front of the Supreme Court and other courts. That probably helps me a lot,” Diokno said. “I’ve been in practice for almost 36 years, I am used to court proceedings,” he added. – Rappler.com Patricia Fontilar is a journalism student at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the managing editor of Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of the UP College of Media and Communication. She is currently a Rappler intern.