Press Release - Speech of Senator Risa Hontiveros

Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive: Case Study of Percy Lapid Mabasa
University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
October 3, 2023

Magandang magandang umaga po sa ating lahat, mga kasama.

Allow me to greet:

My colleague, former and hopefully soon to be again Senator Kiko Pangilinan;

Our National Artist Virgilio Almario;

Our friends from the diplomatic community, including

Laure Beaufils, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Philippines;

Dalibor Micka, charge d' affaires of the Czech embassy in Manila;

Samantha Parkes, of the United States embassy in Manila and

Renuka Randhawa, second secretary, political section of the UK embassy in Manila;

President Jimenez of the University of the Philippines;

Likewise ang lahat ng kabataan na pag-asa ng Inang Bayan na nandito;

Veronic and Ka Roy, Glenda Gloria and Kara David.

Let me also greet our organizer, the Center for People's Media- Philippine Media Advocacy Asia (CPM-PMAA), our friends from the academe, as well as Ka Percy's friends and colleagues in the media.

I thank all of you for lending your time, your ideas, and your support for this important discussion.

Exactly one year ago, Percival Mabasa, or Ka Percy Lapid, paid the ultimate price for speaking truth to power.

Ka Percy was killed by men who sought to silence him and end his fiery brand of journalism. After all, his reporting offended and irked people of power and influence. From corruption, human rights abuses and government mismanagement, Ka Percy was never afraid to tell the truth, and to advocate for what is right.

For Percy Lapid, the truth was always worth telling - no matter how difficult, unpopular, or deadly it is to do so.

His story, unfortunately, is all too common in our supposedly free and democratic country. In 2022, the global watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists ranked the Philippines as the 7th most dangerous country in the world for media workers, only behind active warzones like Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan.

After Ka Percy's killing, the list of slain Filipino journalists has only grown longer. In June of this year, broadcaster Cresenciano Bunduquin was killed in Oriental Mindoro - the third media personality to be