Czech Republic funds Percy Lapid project

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in the Philippines on Monday signed a P1-million project with the Center for People’s Media to commemorate the life of assassinated broadcast journalist Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.

After the signing, Chargé d’affaires, a.i., Mr. Dalibor Mička, said: “I am very excited about the future implementation of our Transition Project because projects like this support rule of law and human rights. This is the main purpose of this project. And, I am more than confident that this one will support both, and that it will facilitate adherence to freedom of speech and freedom of media in the Philippines.”

The project, entitled “Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive,” will culminate in the last of three forums which will be held in Manila on October 3, Lapid’s first death anniversary. The two other forums on press freedom and democracy will be organized in Dumaguete City and Cagayan De Oro City.

Veronica Uy, president of the center, said the project also includes the archiving of Lapid’s broadcast episodes into one website.

Lapid, a fearless radio commentator with a huge following on social media, is the second journalist killed under the Marcos administration.

Hearings on the murder charges filed against suspected masterminds, two former Bureau of Corrections officials, and their cohorts, four inmates, are ongoing.