Rites for hero Graciano Lopez Jaena turn into call for justice (tags)
The Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) News learned today that the annual rites commemorating the 153rd birth anniversary of Ilonggo patriot Graciano Lopez Jaena in Iloilo City, in the island of Panay echoed a call for justice for 31 journalists who were murdered in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Graciano Lopez Jaena was known to be an orator but he was also a writer. “If he were alive today, Graciano Lopez Jaena would be part of the ‘endangered species’—journalists being killed with impunity,” said Demy Sonza, former Iloilo vice governor and head of the Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation Inc. “But he would have fought hard, uncowed by threats,” said Sonza. Sonza said Lopez Jaena offered an inspiration for Filipino journalists “to remain vigilant, stand up for what is right and expose what is wrong” like what the patriot did in his lifetime.