Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward you the following press release from the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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FORWARDED PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-FPR-003-2013

A Press Release from the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

HONG KONG/PHILIPPINES: Dean Jose Manuel Diokno to host Rights Talk on “Civic Education during Martial Law in the Philippines and Beyond” at the University of Hong Kong on Wednesday, 30 January

(Hong Kong, January 24, 2013) Dean Jose Manuel Diokno of the College of Law at De La Salle University will host a lunchtime seminar at the University of Hong Kong from 12:30pm – 1:30pm on “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. The talk will take place in the Academic Conference Room of Cheng Yu Tung Tower, on the University’s new Centennial Campus. (Click here for map.)

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?”

About the speaker

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.

About the Center for Comparative and Public Law (http://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl)

CCPL was established in 1995 as a non-profit virtual research centre in the Faculty of Law. Its goals are to (1) advance knowledge on public law and human rights issues primarily from the perspectives of international and comparative law and practice; (2) encourage and facilitate collaborative work within the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong, and the broader community in the fields of comparative and public law; and (3) make the law more accessible to the community and more effective as an agent of social change.

To register for this talk, please contact Ms. Flora Leung: mailto:fkleung@hku.hk

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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

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

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