Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Romualdez Marcos is a Filipino politician and former actress serving as a senator since 2019. She previously served as governor of Ilocos Norte from 2010 to 2019 and as the representative of Ilocos Norte's 2nd district from 1998 to 2007. She is a daughter of the tenth president, kleptocrat, and dictator Ferdinand Marcos and former first lady Imelda Marcos and the older sister of the current president, Bongbong Marcos.
Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. She will become Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University on July 1, 2024, and has been a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia's new Institute of Global Politics since fall of 2023.
Jose Wright Diokno, also known as "Ka Pepe", was a Filipino nationalist, lawyer, and statesman. Regarded as the "Father of Human Rights," he served as Senator of the Philippines, Secretary of Justice, founding chair of the Commission on Human Rights, and founder of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the premier group of Filipino human rights lawyers. Diokno is the only person to top both the Philippine Bar Examination and the board exam for Certified Public Accountants (CPA). His career was dedicated to the promotion of human rights, the defense of Philippine sovereignty, and the enactment of pro-Filipino economic legislation.
Jose Lorenzo "Pepe" Diokno III is a Filipino film director, producer, and screenwriter. His debut film, Engkwentro premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival and received the Lion of the Future Award for Best Debut Film, as well as the Orizzonti Prize.
Félix Ignacio Juan Nicolás Antonio José Joaquín Buenaventura Berenguer de Marquina y FitzGerald, KOS was a Spanish naval officer, colonial official and, from April 30, 1800 to January 4, 1803, viceroy of New Spain. His wife was María de Ansoátegui y Barrol from Spain.
Ambeth R. Ocampo is a Filipino public historian, academic, cultural administrator, journalist, author, and independent curator. He is best known for his definitive writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal and on topics in Philippine history and Philippine art through Looking Back, his bi-weekly editorial page column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent constitutional office created under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, with the primary function of investigating all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights in the Philippines.
Benjamin Estoista Diokno is a Filipino economist who currently serves as one of the six members of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which conducts the country's monetary policy and supervises its financial system. Diokno previously served as Secretary of Budget and Management under President Joseph Estrada from 1998 to 2001 and under President Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to 2019. He also served as the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the chairman of its Monetary Board, as well as ex officio chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, from 2019 to 2022 under President Duterte His last Cabinet-level position was being the Secretary of Finance from 2022 to 2024 under President Bongbong Marcos.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritage through research, dissemination, conservation, sites management and heraldry works." As such, it "aims to inculcate awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and ideals of our heroes and other illustrious Filipinos, to instill pride in the Filipino people and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through the lessons of history."
The Tañada-Diokno School of Law is the law school and one of the eight schools of De La Salle University.
Jose Manuel Tadeo "Chel" Icasiano Diokno is a Filipino lawyer, educator, human rights advocate, and broadcaster. He serves as chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, and the chairman of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation. He has served as a special counsel of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. He was a candidate for the Senate in 2019 and 2022. He also co-hosts radio programs such as Oras at Bayan on Veritas 846 and Rekta: Agenda ng Masa on DZRH and DZRH News Television.
Ananías Diokno y Noblejas was reputedly the only Philippine Revolutionary Army general to lead a full-scale military expedition to the Visayas against the Spanish forces. Also known as General of the Seas, his successful landing in Bicol and the Visayas were considered one of the first missions of the Philippine Navy. He is the father of anti-American nationalist Sen. Ramón Diokno, grandfather of Sen. Jose W. Diokno and great-grandfather of human right and lawyer Jose "Chel" Diokno, the intellectual leader of the opposition against the Marcos administration and the father of human rights in the nation.
Historical markers are installed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and its predecessor agencies in the Philippines and places abroad that signify important and historic events, persons, structures, and institutions. The commemorative plaques are permanent signs installed by the NHCP in publicly visible locations on buildings, monuments, or in special locations. The NHCP also allows local municipalities and cities to install markers of figures and events of local significance, although these markers are barred from using the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
James "Bimby" Aquino Yap Jr. is a Filipino media personality and former child actor. He made his film debut in My Little Bossings (2013).
The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) is a nationwide organization of human rights lawyers in the Philippines. It was founded in 1974 by Sen. Jose W. Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada, J.B.L. Reyes, and Joker Arroyo during the martial law era under former President Ferdinand Marcos. It is the first and largest group of human rights lawyers established in the nation. They work on countering varied abuses against human rights and civil liberties. Its current chairman since 2003 is human rights attorney Chel Diokno, the founding dean of the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno School of Law.
Diokno is a Filipino surname that originated from Indang, Cavite and Taal, Batangas area. It was changed to a more Filipino surname from the original Hispanized surname, "Diocno". Ángel Diokno is the oldest known patriarch of the immediate family of Gen. Ananías Diokno. Although the Diokno family members are primarily prevalent in the Philippines, there are significant numbers of people with this surname in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. Through marriages the Diokno clan is also interrelated with multiple historical figures, such as public servants Justice Francis Garchitorena, Corazon Aquino, and Governor-General Félix Berenguer de Marquina y Fitzgerald, who is the namesake of Marikina.
At 7:15 p.m. on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the Philippines under martial law, stating he had done so in response to the "communist threat" posed by the newly founded Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the sectarian "rebellion" of the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM). Opposition figures of the time accused Marcos of exaggerating these threats and using them as an excuse to consolidate power and extend his tenure beyond the two presidential terms allowed by the 1935 constitution. Marcos' signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, marking the beginning of a fourteen-year period of one-man rule which effectively lasted until Marcos was exiled from the country on February 25, 1986. Proclamation No. 1081 was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, although Marcos retained essentially all of his powers as dictator until he was ousted in February 1986.
José Mari Uhler Vélez was a Filipino lawyer, journalist, business executive, and activist best remembered for his long career as television newscaster anchoring The Big News on ABC 5 and for his service as an oppositionist delegate to the Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971. He was one of the opposition delegates at the convention, which was why he was one of the first to be arrested when Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial law in September 1972. In April 1989, Velez became one of the first recipients of the Ninoy Aquino Fellowship Award for his accomplishments in journalism, with President Corazon Aquino stating that she believes he "share[s] in Ninoy's vision of preserving and strengthening our democracy."
Marites Dañguilan Vitug is a Filipina journalist and author who co-founded the news magazine Newsbreak. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 1986 to 1987.
Ramón Diokno y Marasigan was a Filipino statesman, jurist, Associate Justice, and one of the foremost nationalists of his generation. He fought the American Parity Rights Amendment and was one of four senators to be ousted so that the amendment may be ratified. He later became Associate Justice under Ramon Magsaysay but had the shortest term when he died two months and eleven days later. He is the father of former Senator Jose W. Diokno, the father of human rights and founder of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), and grandfather of Atty. Jose Manuel Tadeo "Chel" Diokno, the dean of the De La Salle University (DLSU) Tañada-Diokno College of Law. Justice Diokno is famous for writing the ponencia in the Re: Cunanan case.
Maris with brother Chel, Chito Gascon, and sister
Blessing of the Liwasang Diokno, CHR Central Office
