UP STUDENT WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR
She wanted to be a medical doctor but decided to take the road less traveled that on Tuesday cost her life.
Josephine Anne Lapira, 22, a University of the Philippines (UP) Manila student, died in what the authorities reported as an encounter between New People’s Army members and government forces in Batangas province on the evening of Nov. 28.
Died in hospital
Lapira, a former biochemistry student from Marikina City, was identified by the military as the 15th fatality ( one of five women) in two gun battles in Nasugbu town. She died while being treated in the hospital.
“Violence against women does not choose its victim,” Lapira had said in one of her speeches as deputy secretary general of Gabriela Youth Manila.
She also served as a UP College of Arts and Sciences representative to the University Student Council from 2016 to 2017.
Alana Cortes, a fellow student-leader at UP Manila, described Lapira as a warm and “easy-to-get-along-with” person.
Doctor dream
Lapira had wanted to be a doctor to help the sick as some of her family members had cancer, she said.
“[T]hat’s why she pursued medical studies. She loves giving practical advice. She is very responsible in the student council and other organizations. She will not sleep just to finish a requirement,” Cortes said.
Cortes, a former university student councilor, now works at the National Union of Students of the Philippines as its coordinator for Northern Mindanao.
She said she had known Lapira since March last year, after they both ran under the Asap-Katipunan party.
Joshua Musico Sagdullas, spokesperson for Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Eastern Visayas, said on Facebook that the group was mourning the death of Lapira.
History written in blood
“Our nation’s history is one written in blood and (Lapira’s) selflessness has brought us closer to a new chapter in this long and arduous epic,” Sagdullas said.
Mark Santiago San Juan said Lapira personified the saying great things come from small people.
“(She has) unwavering principle regardless of circumstance. That’s why I love you, idol,” San Juan previously wrote on Facebook to vouch for Lapira who was then running in the University Student Council elections.
Wake
The Inquirer went to the wake of Lapira on Thursday evening but grieving relatives disallowed any interview.
Her remains were brought from Batangas to a small funeral chapel beside St. Paul Church Chapel at Barangay Concepcion Dos in Marikina City.