Statement | National Campus Press Freedom Day
Today marks the 2nd anniversary of National Campus Press Freedom Day since its declaration on August 28, 2019. It aimed to promote, protect, and safeguard the constitutionally-granted right to freedom of expression, speech, and of the press in all educational institutions. It also ordered educational institutions to provide full support and assistance to the campus press’s annual programs and activities.
Contrary to its main goal of assuring the safety of student-journalists, cases of violating and threatening their rights is evident & continuously rises. Apart from increasing attacks on mainstream and alternative media, campus publications have also become more imperiled since Duterte assumed office. In fact, with more than a thousand reported campus press freedom violations since 2010, more than 200 of these were cases of harassment and intimidation under the Duterte regime. It seems ironic then that the current administration has signed the CPF day into law — vowing to protect and promote the freedom of the press — all while campus journalists are continuously being systematically attacked through defunding, censorship, harassment, and red-tagging. The Anti-Terror Law has also emboldened the state to use a variety of tactics to crack down on and silence the press.
Up to this day, campus publications still call for autonomy and protection of press freedom as student publications uphold and preserve their role as an alternative media. Although the campus press freedom law aimed to amend provisions in the current law regarding the non-mandatory collection of the publication fee, the non-mandatory establishment of student publications, and the lack of a penalty clause, the authors of the bill stated that these became contributing factors to the increasing number of violations against campus press freedom in the Philippines. Last July 23, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) filed a 13-page petition to probe records of attacks against the 750 campus publications in the country.
The current administration has blatantly stated its intent to silence the flames of democracy. With random red-tagging, baseless accusations, and other monstrosities disguised as a concern for the country, it is not surprising that everyone cowered in fear — death has become a “normal” verdict to anyone who dares to oppose. However, it is still in the hands of us, as campus journalists, to expose the very truth we pledge to protect until our pens bleed dry, until we run out of papers containing the gravity of reality put into strings of words. It will always be our sworn duty to uphold freedom of the press, to inform the masses of the underlying issues they are in, and to empower them of their civil rights and voices. After all, we, as campus journalists, are born to correct the myopic stances of the society and make sure that the truth everyone sees is uncolored.
As a student publication that is centered on amplifying the calls and unraveling the truth about the masses, the youth, the minority, and the education sector, The Manila Collegian, alongside with the different campus publications in the country, will continue to champion and defend campus press freedom. Amidst the incessant and exacerbated strikes against student journalists as of the present, we call the youth to support the repeal of the Campus Journalism Act with the refurbished Campus Press Freedom Bill which will warrant the protection of campus journalists and penalize violations on campus press freedom.
While the state continues to wreak havoc on campus journalists, it is imperative that we remain more persistent than ever to stand by our roles. The time has come to unionize all campus journalists and let our pen bleed out the truth. Defend the campus press!
#DefendTheCampusPress
#DefendPressFreedom
