Media groups to gather for Joe Pavia's necrological service on Holy Thursday

Media groups will gather for the necrological service for veteran journalist Jose "Joe" Pavia at 6:00 p.m. on Holy Thursday at the Arlington Chapels in Quezon City. A Holy Mass, to be presided over by Father Jonathan Domingo, will be held before the necrological service. The necrological service, sponsored by media groups, will be led by the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), where Pavia served as executive director since 2009. The other media groups that co-sponsored the service for Pavia are Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Meanwhile, in a statement, Mabuhay News, community newspaper published by Pavia, said Mass will be held for Pavia daily at 7:00 p.m starting on Monday. For those who wish to attend the mass and necrological services, Arlington Chapels is located along Araneta Avenue, near SM Sta. Mesa. Pavia, 72, passed away 5:25 a.m Monday due to complications from lung cancer at the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. Pavia is survived by his wife, Loreto Quijano, and eight children. The PPI, in a press statement issued on Monday, said Pavia filed a medical leave late last year for his first surgery but was never able to return. The PPI said Pavia passed away in the same hospital where he underwent three surgeries for brain tumor. "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," the PPI said. The PPI noted that Pavia lost "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." – VVP, GMA News