Jose W. Diokno

Ananías' great-great grandfather was Félix Berenguer de Marquina y Fitzgerald, who was viceroy of New Spain and governor-general of the Philippines from 1788 to 1793.

Berenguer de Marquina had an extramarital affair with a Chinese mestiza from Cagsawa, Albay named Demetria Sumulong y Lindo and sired one daughter.

He abandoned this family to repatriate to Spain and later became the lieutenant-general of the navy in 1799.

He was said to be an incompetent but persevering governor.

Despite this mixed ancestry, Diokno would later often say that he was "100% Filipino".

As a young 12-year-old boy, Diokno would go with his father to trials in the provinces.

He would carry his father’s bag, and sit on a small chair reserved for him behind the counsel’s table.

He learned English through a private tutor during the American Commonwealth period, as the family usually spoke in Spanish.

Growing up, Diokno relished having Spanish dishes at home, namely tapas or side dishes such as angulas, white embutido, galantina, and chorizos.

He liked Filipino food as well and enjoyed rice mixed with gatas ng kalabaw (carabao’s milk), raw eggs, and tapang usa (cured venison).

Diokno also joined Nilad Lodge No. 12, a masonic lodge, as his father and many revolutionaries did before him.

Jose Wright Diokno (February 26, 1922 – February 27, 1987), 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 W. Diokno was born in Manila on February 26, 1922, to Ramón Diokno y Marasigan, a former senator and Justice of the Supreme Court from Taal, Batangas, and Leonor May Wright y Garcia, an American mestiza.

Diokno was the youngest son and the sixth of eight children, and had three half-siblings from Ramón's first spouse, Martha Fello Diokno, who passed away years ago.

Diokno grew up at 48 Alhambra Street, Ermita, Manila and was baptized at Ermita Church on September 3, 1922.

Ramón Diokno was considered an anti-imperialist nationalist as senator and was one of four senators to oppose the American Parity Rights Amendment.

Jose's grandfather was Ananías Diokno, a navy general and governor in the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War in the Visayas.

In 1937, after repeated acceleration Diokno graduated high school as the valedictorian at De La Salle College, now called De La Salle University (DLSU), and went on to take a bachelor's degree in commerce, also at DLSU.

He was an ROTC lieutenant, dramatist, writer, and leader.

He later developed a skill in photography and owned a studio.

Diokno initially wanted to study mechanical engineering, but eventually compromised with his parents to take up commerce since his parents wanted a major that featured legal studies.

He realized he enjoyed the legal courses the most and decided to take up law once he finished his undergraduate studies.

He graduated from college summa cum laude.

Diokno took the CPA board examinations in 1940—for which he had to secure special dispensation, since he was too young.

He topped the CPA with a grade of 91.18.

However, since Diokno was too young when he passed the CPA exam, he could not receive a proper license until he was twenty-one, which led him to continue his law studies like his half-brother.

After Diokno enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in 1940, his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of WWII in 1941 in his second year.

When the war was over, he was granted a special dispensation by the Supreme Court of the Philippines and was allowed to take the Philippine Bar Examination despite having never completed his degree.

He topped the 1944 bar exam (Roll No. 5, Diokno was the first Filipino lawyer to take his oath and appear on the post-war Roll of Attorneys on July 26, 1945) together with a 24 year old future ally named Jovito Salonga with a score of 95.3, the highest since the language of instruction switched to English.

As a reward he took a solo vacation in the United States, where he would frequently call Carmen "Nena" Icasiano, a commerce student from Bulacan studying at Far Eastern University.

They met in 1946 at a dinner party hosted by a future mayor named Arsenio Lacson, and Diokno started courting her, refusing to listen to his father to marry José Abad Santos's daughter.

Diokno married Carmen at Ermita Church in 1949 immediately after Diokno returned from his shortened trip.

He quickly proposed to her after he found out on the telephone that she had tuberculosis and had missed seeing him.

Immediately after topping the Bar exam, Diokno embarked on his law practice at his father's bupete or law office, handling and winning high-profile cases including Vera v. Avelino, G.R. L-543, on behalf of his father, Sen. Ramón Diokno, who let the young Diokno quickly take over the bupete.

Diokno also successfully fought libel charges against radio personality and Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson, who was a close friend and would often visit Diokno and his wife in the wee hours at their home in Parañaque to prepare them breakfast.

In 2004, Diokno was posthumously conferred the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Supremo—the Philippines' highest honor.

February 27, a day after his birthday, is celebrated in the Philippines as Jose W. Diokno Day.