Opposition senatorial canidate Chel Diokno, a veteran human rights lawyer, won the endorsement of former justices of the Philippines Supreme Court and ombudsmen as the campaign draws to a close.

Former SC justices Antonio Nachura and Roberto Abad and former ombudsmen Conchita Carpio Morales and Simeon Marcelo threw their support behind Diokno in a news conference yesterday for Monday’s general election.

Nachura said Diokno showed promise for his work as a member of the prosecution of the Joseph Estrada impeachment trial more than a decade ago.

READ MORE: Rene Saguisag endorses Diokno, the ‘voice of human rights’ in Senate

“Noong nalaman kong kakandidato si Chel (When I found out Chel would run for senator), I enlisted myself as a volunteer for him because of his passion for justice and his passion for quality education,” Nachura said.

Nachura, who served as SC justice under the Gloria Arroyo administration, said: “Pagkakataon ko nang makapagbayad kahit kaunti para sa nagawa ni Chel sa ating lahat.” (This is my chance to repay him for what he has done for all of us.)

Diokno heads the 45-year-old Free Legal Assistance Group, which has handled clients such as relatives of those who died in the 1987 MV Doña Paz tragedy, witnesses in the kidnapping case against retired army major-general Jovito Palparan, and most recently, victims of drug war killings, indigenous groups against martial law in Mindanao, fishermen against commercial fishing, and fishermen against the neglect of the West Philippine Sea.

Diokno scored small wins recently, when the SC compelled the Duterte administration to publicly release tens of thousands of drug war documents, and when the High Court issued a writ of kalikasan for the fishermen who complained against government neglect in the Spratly territories.

Founding dean
Diokno is also the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law.

“He worked with me, when the Supreme Court invited him to help us in the revision of the rules of civil procedure and he did fine work in his assignment,” said Abad, whose first work out of law school was for Diokno’s father, former senator Jose W. Diokno.

“We have a wonderful guy here, who can really serve our country more than many of our candidates who may be popular because they’re exposed to media,” said Abad.

Marcelo told reporters he has long promised not to be involved in politics after his term as ombudsman, but that supporting Diokno in his campaign was a chance he could not pass up.

“Kilalang-kilala siya bilang abogado na tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao at ating mga naaaping kababayan, mga mahihirap,” said Marcelo.

(He is well known as a lawyer who defends human rights of poor and oppressed Filipinos.)

Morales, who has been shying away from political statements since retiring as ombudsman in 2018, did not speak but told reporters she supports Diokno.

Uphill battle
Before the press conference, Morales said that while Diokno’s candidacy may be an uphill battle, “everything is possible”.

Far Eastern University Institute of Law dean Mel Sta Maria and Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law dean Sol Mawis also endorsed Diokno.

“Mahal ni Chel higit sa lahat ang batas. Pero mas may mahal pa siya sa batas – ang katarungan,” Mawis said. (Chel loves the law most of all. But more than the law, what he loves is justice.)

Asia Pacific Report republishes Rappler articles in collaboration.

OPINION: By Walden Bello in Manila

On July 19, 2011, three of my colleagues in Congress and I landed on Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys. Our mission: affirm our country’s sovereignty over nine islands and maritime formations in our possession amid China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the area.

In the days before our trip, Beijing condemned the mission and warned then President Benigno Aquino III to order us to cancel it.

The Chinese Ambassador went to the Department of Foreign Affairs to lodge a protest. To his credit, President Aquino made no effort to stop us.

Instead, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told the Chinese our government practised the separation of powers and, besides, we were not doing anything wrong since we were visiting Philippine territory.

A few days ago, President Rodrigo Duterte announced to the world that he would go to Pag-asa to raise the Philippine flag on June 12 this year.

Then, he did the unthinkable: fearing Beijing’s displeasure, he abruptly backed off. Duterte violated the basic rule of diplomacy when a small country faces a big country: you don’t allow yourself to be intimidated.

Practically the whole country supported the President’s initial decision to raise the flag at Pag-asa. There was great relief that the policy of appeasing the beast was finally over.

Of course, if there were a credible Chinese threat to prevent Duterte’s visit by force, the President’s retreat would have been understandable.

But there was no such threat; the Chinese were not so foolish as to threaten the use of force to prevent Duterte from visiting an island that has had a Filipino community since the late 1970s, when Pag-asa was made a municipality of the province of Palawan.

The reason for the presidential retreat was more ignominious: Duterte backed off because he was worried Chinese President Xi Jin Ping might be offended.

Born to resist
Our visit to Pag-asa lasted no more than four hours. But it was hugely symbolic. The military garrison and community of about 60 people welcomed the congressional party, composed of myself, Representative Teddy Baguilat, and two other members of the 15th Congress.

We also had with us then Palawan Governor Abraham Mitra, Pag-asa Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, and Major-General Juancho Sabban, the commander of the Western Command, who was one of the strongest backers of our visit.

We brought two Philippine flags, one of which was hoisted in a flag ceremony under a fierce noonday sun. Asked to speak, I remember saying, “We come in peace. We support a diplomatic solution, but let there be no doubt in anybody’s mind, in any foreign power’s mind that if they dare to eject us from Pag-asa, if they dare to eject us from our rightful territories, Filipinos will not take that sitting down. Filipinos are born to resist aggression. Filipinos are willing to die for their soil.”

After hiking around the island, enjoying its white sandy beaches, swimming a bit, and posing with the islanders behind a huge banner that read “West Philippine Sea,” we took off at around 4 pm.

Our visit had made three firsts: Our flight was the first commercial plane to land on Philippine territory in the Spratlys. Ours was the first congressional delegation to visit the area. But the third was the most important: our mission was the first act of official defiance of China’s aggression into our national territory.

President Duterte had the opportunity to accomplish a far more significant assertion of our national sovereignty than ours. For he is not just an ordinary individual but the principal representative of a country that is being kicked around by a bully.

When he said he would go and raise the flag on Pag-asa, he made us all proud; when he turned tail, he shamed our country before the global community.

He still has a chance to salvage the national honor by proceeding with his original plan.

Former Congressman and political commentator Walden Bello led a congressional mission to affirm Philippine sovereignty over its possessions in the Spratlys in July 11, 2011. As congressman from 2009 to 2015, he championed an independent foreign policy, criticising both China’s aggressive moves in the Spratlys and the United States’ drive to make the Philippines its military satellite to contain China. Bello authored House Bill 1350 renaming the South China Sea the West Philippine Sea. He made the only recorded resignation-on-principle in the history of the Congress in 2015 owing to principled differences with the Aquino III administration, one of which was Aquino’s concluding the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States. This article was first published by Rappler and Asia Pacific Report publishes Walden Bello’s articles with permission.