DLSU dean Diokno faces JBC, denies being a 'communist lawyer'

MANILA, Philippines -  De La Salle University law school dean Jose Manuel Diokno denied being a “communist lawyer” as he faced the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Monday for his bid to become the next ombudsman.

In an interview, the human rights lawyer rebutted objection to his nomination by retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and ANAD party-list Rep. Pastor Alcover, who wanted him out of the running for the ombudsman post for lack of required probity on human rights cases against the military.

Palparan had earlier asked the council to disqualify Diokno, son of the late freedom fighter and Sen. Jose Diokno, since he lawyered for Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo in the writ of amparo case in the Supreme Court in connection with the brothers’ alleged abduction and torture in the hands of the military.

But Diokno, who also heads a free legal assistance group, told the JBC that his legal assistance to the Manalo brothers should not be misconstrued of him as being biased against military officers accused of committing human rights violations.

“They seem to define me by my clients, like a form of guilt by association. They don’t know I’ve also represented officers of the Navy, Army, and the PNP (Philippine National Police). I personally don’t see that I’d be partial in terms of those kinds of cases,” he explained.

Asked by JBC members, chaired by SC Chief Justice Renato Corona, what he immediately plans to do if chosen by President Aquino for the vacancy, Diokno said he would not focus on conviction rate.

The law dean said he would instead first formulate a system that would monitor whether public officials convicted of graft are serving jail time.

He explained that instead of ensuring a high conviction rate, the Office of the Ombudsman should assure the public that those found guilty of misusing public funds are actually being held accountable.

This developed as another bet, Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, was also grilled by the JBC.

Chief Justice Corona questioned how he was able to dispose of some 4,500 pending cases left by former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned last month, in just a month’s time.

The SC chief said Casimiro could have acted with the same dispatch when he was overall deputy and when he was acting ombudsman whenever Gutierrez went out on official trips.

He replied: “The cases then, there’s a difference between now and before, because not all the cases are given to me for disposition.”