JOSE L. PAVIA, 72
[portfolio_slideshow size=medium]
Jose L. Pavia, one of the nation’s most respected journalists, died this morning (18 April) in the hospital where he had been confined following a series of surgeries for a brain tumor and the discovery that he had lung cancer. He was 72.
He is survived by his wife, Loreto Quijano, and eight children. His body lies for viewing and for ceremonies at the Arlington Chapels in Araneta Avenue, Quezon City. The burial date is yet to be decided.
Pavia took a leave late last year as executive director of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), the national organization of newspapers, to undergo his first surgery. But he had not recovered enough to be able to return to work, and required two more surgeries, the last done only recently.
Pavia is best admired as a teaching editor, from his years at the daily Philippines Herald, where he was caught by the imposition of martial law in 1972, losing both his newspaper and his job as assistant news editor, to his years at the official Philippine News Agency, which he tried to run as professionally as the conditions of the emergency permitted.
He ran every training program and conference of the PPI and often served as a resource person on similar occasions elsewhere in Asia, while continuing to publish his Bulacan-based weekly for Central Luzon, Mabuhay, which is constantly held up as a model for community newspapers.
Pavia represented the PPI in the network, Filipino Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc., which raised funds to provide for the legal defense of journalists, the prosecution of suspects in the killing of journalists and humanitarian assistance for families of the slain. He served as chairman of FFFJ Board of Trustees since 2007 and was active in the network’s campaign against impunity. He pushed for the formation of FFFJ’s Quick Response Team, which does fact-finding missions and checks what cases could be filed in court. Pavia believed it was important to let journalists know that the journalism community cared.
[…] cmfr | 2 May 2011 (Melinda Quintos de Jesus’s speech during the necrological service for Jose “Joe” Pavia, April […]