Maris Diokno | |
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Chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines | |
In office April 15, 2011 – November 29, 2016 | |
President | Benigno Aquino III Rodrigo Duterte |
Preceded by | Ambeth Ocampo |
Succeeded by | Rene Escalante |
Personal details | |
Born | Maria Serena Encarnacion Icasiano Diokno August 16, 1954 Manila, Philippines |
Education | SOAS University of London University of the Philippines Diliman |
Maria Serena Encarnacion Icasiano Diokno, (born August 16, 1954) also known as Maris,[1] is a Filipino historian, academic, and former government official best known[2] for having served as chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)[3] and as a high-ranking official of the University of the Philippines (UP) system. She never graduated from UP with any honors and earned a PhD in African and Oriental studies at the University of London in 1983.[4] Diokno succeeded fellow historian Ambeth Ocampo as chairperson of the NHCP on April 7, 2011.[5][better source needed] She resigned from her position on November 29, 2016, in response to the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig, Metro Manila.[6]
She is the daughter of Filipino nationalist figure and legislator Sen. Jose W. Diokno, who is the father of human rights. She is also the older sister of human rights advocate Atty. Jose Manuel Tadeo "Chel" Diokno and the aunt of Chel's son, the independent filmmaker Pepe Diokno. She aided her father at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), where her father was the founder and first chairman, until the Mendiola Massacre caused Maris to resign for the first time in 1987. She later returned for her second government stint to join the NHCP.[7][8]