By Ramon Bautista, Angelika V. Ortega, and Mindy Roiza A. Planillo
Almost all victims are under 23.
Between their first days in school and the revelation of controversies, they have been silenced, abused, robbed, and red-tagged.
Members of campus publications have been reportedly suffering such troubles for decades. With nearly all papers now migrated online, records showed that student journalists these days continue to bear the brunt of attacks, whether state-sponsored or campus-based, sometimes even both, on their respective publications and their capacities as budding reporters.
Since 2010, the number of harassments on campus journalists has risen to almost a thousand, according to reports by the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), the oldest, broadest, and only existing intercollegiate alliance of student publications in the Asia-Pacific region.
While accounts from 2000 to mid-2001 showed cases of publication closure, fund withholding, censorship, and administrative intervention, including suspension or expulsion of editors and staff, among others, an increase in instances of red-tagging and death threats from suspected troll accounts was reported from 2015, or since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office.
In 2018, CEGP recorded 800 cases of campus press freedom violations, with at least 200 related to withholding of funds.
Recognizing campus press freedom
Campus press freedom has been enshrined in the country’s legal system through Republic Act No. 7079, also known as the Campus Journalism Act (CJA) of 1991. Recognizing the role of campus publications as the voice of the youth during Martial Law, it was enacted on July 5, 1991, during the administration of former president Corazon Aquino. The law aimed to uphold and protect the freedom of the press at the campus level and to promote the development and growth of campus journalism. It further sought to utilize campus journalism in strengthening ethical values, encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing the moral character and personal discipline of the Filipino youth.
One of the salient provisions of the law is found in Section 3, particularly in the definition of the Editorial Board. The law provides that the Editorial Board shall be the one who will determine the editorial policies to be implemented by the editor and staff members of the student publication concerned. It strengthens the rights of student journalists to have editorial independence. However, this independence is subject to the technical guidance of the publication adviser since the law further provides that the editorial policies shall take into account pertinent laws as well as the school administration’s policies.
Moreover, Section 5 provides that “funding for the student publication may include the savings of the respective school’s appropriations, student subscriptions, donations, and other sources of funds. In no instance shall the Department of Education, Culture and Sports or the school administration concerned withhold the release of funds sourced from the savings of the appropriations of the respective schools and other sources intended for the student publication. Subscription fees collected by the school administration shall be released automatically to the student publication concerned.”
Section 7 of the law reinforces the rights that a student journalist must enjoy. It prohibits the expulsion or suspension of the student solely on the basis of his or her written articles or on the basis of his or her performance of duties in the student publication. The inclusion of this provision clearly intends to protect student journalists from being put into jeopardy solely by reason of the performance of his or her duties in the student publication and ultimately guarantee to them that their right to education will not be unduly hampered due to such participation.
‘Toothless law’
In a written interview with thebarrister, Regina Tolentino, CEGP Deputy Secretary-General, asserted that the CJA “remains toothless.” While violations against campus press freedom have been defined, there are no provisions for penalties or any form of sanction on those who violate the law.
Such “vagueness” has paved the way for more transgressions to be committed against campus journalists, such as financial cut-off and red-tagging, according to Tolentino.
“It has been a fight since the realization that the Republic Act 7079 or Campus Journalism Act of 1991 contains legal discrepancies which only furthered the sufferings of campus press journos,” she shared.
The lack of making publication funds a requisite has also hindered some publications from public schools from releasing their periodicals, the CEGP representative said. Most campus journalists had to either spend their personal money for press operations or migrate their activities online.
Meanwhile, Tolentino observed that some campus publications still “need to understand the need for their autonomy to avoid being repressed.”
“Aside from learning their rights to campus press freedom, members of a publication must continuously study the society and its issues to develop good and critical judgment,” Tolentino said.
CEGP, along with Kabataan Partylist, has filed House Bill 319 or Campus Press Freedom Bill repealing CJA. The bill was first filed in 2011. The parties refiled the bill in 2013 and 2016, but was left pending at the committee level.
In February last year, the bill had its first hearing, but was again left pending due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Sufferings of campus press journos
At the outset of the pandemic, Joshua Molo, the editor-in-chief of the Dawn, the official student publication of the University of East, was forced to make a public apology after being threatened with cyber libel case, for condemning the response of the current administration to the health crisis.
Earlier this year, Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of University of the Philippines’ (UP) College of Mass Communication, became one of the targets of troll accounts and red-tagging and revealed that they received death threats.
Meanwhile, The Philippine Collegian, UP’s official student publication, also reported that some of their editorial staff and members were accused of being “wanted terrorist reporters.” This was coupled with the statements of President Duterte that UP has become a “breeding ground for terrorist activities.”
In addition, several student publications and coordinators of CEGP in Cebu reported similar threats and suppression due to their strong stance in various socio-political issues. Last March, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia publicly denounced the University of San Carlos’ Today’s Carolinian, the university’s official student publication, for its editorial which criticized her for allegedly creating a special unit to track down netizens who post negative comments on her COVID-19 response.
Fighting back
The rise of attacks against campus publications has led to the ever-growing campaign to #DefendTheCampusPress, which has likewise shifted online.
“We reiterate the truth: we are not terrorists,” student journalists from UP decried last March. “Dissent is not a crime.”
This shows that campus journalists, and their supporters alike, will not be dimmed by the risks and harassment the practice carries. Campus journalism will grow stronger and shine upon the impending dark the corrupt threatens to bring.
They may cuff the writers, gag the reporters, or assault the heralds, but campus journalists persistently hold the line and staunchly fight back until the ink runs dry.
THE BARRISTER 