Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno filed on Tuesday his certificate of candidacy for senator.

Diokno, also the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, said he chose to run for a Senate seat in next year's polls to offer people an "alternative."

"I've been approached before to run, it was never something that I'd thought of doing," he told ANC's "Beyond Politics."

"But recently, it became more and more clear to me that we need to offer the people an alternative," he added.

The lawyer said he decided to push through with his Senate bid after he discussed the matter with his children.

Diokno is running under the opposition ticket of the Liberal Party.