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Slain PH journalist Percy Lapid remembered in NY on 1st year since murder

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Don Tagala | TFC News New York

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lDwgQZiahuw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>Press freedom and democracy advocates in New York recently held a tribute for the slain Philippine broadcaster Percy Lapid.The memorial was to mark the first year since Lapid was shot dead by riding-in-tandem gunmen in Las Piñas.<div><a data-ved="2ahUKEwj5sYWehO2BAxUCdfUHHRg4BPAQxfQBKAB6BAgSEAE" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/03/23/call-for-justice-remains-a-year-since-percy-lapid-slay" jsname="YKoRaf" ping="/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/03/23/call-for-justice-remains-a-year-since-percy-lapid-slay&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj5sYWehO2BAxUCdfUHHRg4BPAQxfQBKAB6BAgSEAE">Call for justice remains a year since Percy Lapid slay</a></div>Mark Mabasa believes his father&#x27;s criticism of those in power and his bid to hold them to account cost him his life.&quot;He always used to say that when you see people committing a wrongdoing, you should call them out,&quot; said Mabasa, &quot;not to put them in trouble but to give them a chance to correct themselves.&quot;Mabasa said he considers his father&#x27;s legacy as speaking truth to power.&quot;I hope that people will think of him as someone who fought for the truth,&quot; he added. &quot;Someone who had this love for his country.&quot;The memorial was led by U.S. Filipinos for Good Governance, and members of the Fil-Am Press Club of New York.Groups said the bigger issues at hand are press freedom and democracy in the Philippines.Educator and journalist Noel Pangilinan cited the Philippines&#x27; ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, which put it as still among the world&#x27;s most dangerous places to be a journalist.&quot;Some 75 cases of attacks have been recorded [and] this number is higher than number of attacks or threats in any given year in the administration of then-President [Rodrigo] Duterte,&quot; said Pangilinan.Also present were Columbia University School of Journalism professor Sheila Coronel, and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, who will soon join Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs faculty.Coronel said that at this day and age where truth, justice, and press freedom, are under attack, rebuilding democratic institutions is a slow brick by brick process.&quot;The obstacles to justice are formidable but we have a few victories,&quot; she said. &quot;Even if they’re incomplete, they show that impunity need not be the norm, that justice is attainable, if we fight for it.&quot;Ressa, meanwhile, said she remains hopeful for a free press, and that journalists can protect themselves by building a community that will support them in times of need.&quot;I will ask every single person in this room: What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?&quot; said Ressa. &quot;Because ultimately, if we don’t have that, we have nothing, and that’s how we build our community.&quot;While the road to justice for Percy Lapid is not easy, his family members said they are determined to see this through.

While the road to justice for Lapid is not easy, his family members are determined to see this through.