LECTURE: Civic Education during Martial Law in the Philippines and Beyond

RIGHTS TALK
Civic Education during Martial Law in the Philippines and  Beyond
Professor Jose Manuel Diokno
Dean, De La Salle University College of Law


Wednesday, 30 January 2013, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower
The University of Hong Kong



In this talk, Dean Diokno will discuss "Civic Education During Martial Law in the Philippines and Beyond".  He will analyse the extent to which civic education was used as a tool to legitimise Marcos' dictatorship during the martial law period.  He will consider the functions which civic education has served in the Philippines since the restoration of democratic government under President Cory Aquino.  Finally, he will offer some personal reflections on the appropriate role of civic education in today's society.  Dean Diokno will revisit the theme of civic education later in the day when he participates in a seminar together with the 2013 Hochelaga Lecturer Professor K. Anthony Appiah and other panelists on the topic“Does National Education Have a Role to Play in Hong Kong?”  

Professor Jose Manuel Diokno ("Chel") was born in the Philippines in 1961.  His father was Senator Jose Wright Diokno, a noted lawyer and human rights activist, who was imprisoned as a dissident by President Marcos during martial law in the Philippines.  Professor Diokno regularly visited his father in jail at that time and witnessed at first hand the repressive side of martial law during his adolescence. Diokno holds a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of the Philippines and a JD from Northern Illinois University.  Having passed the bar exam in the Philippines, Professor Diokno started his career as a human rights lawyer. Notably, he promoted the work of FLAG (Free Legal Assistance Group), an organisation founded by his father. He has sat in various Human Rights Committees set up by previous Philippine presidents and was himself involved as counsel in the proceedings to impeach President Joseph Estrada. Professor Diokno started the Diokno Law Center in 2006.  An important objective of the Center is to provide legal education and backup to persons working in government agencies.  In 2009 he became the first Dean of the then newly established College of Law at De La Salle University in Manila.  Dean Diokno's publications include Diokno on Trial: The Techniques and Ideals of the Filipino Lawyer (2007) which discusses his father's work and thinking as a trial lawyer