25/07/2025
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
It has been five years since then president-Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law the Republic Act (RA) 11440, effectively declaring July 25 as National Campus Press Freedom Day. Motivated not by ensuring the autonomy of campus journalists but by quelling public clamors regarding the administrationโs attacks on journalism, this law is simply meant to save face and stand as mere decoration.
Press freedom in the country is as threatened as it is needed. In 2022 alone, the World Press Freedom Index by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders recorded the Philippinesโ lowest, standing at 147th out of 180 countries. More than a pattern, it is the chilling legacy that Duterteโs bloody regime left behind, one that waged war against journalists and the common Filipino. Although it improved to 116th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, the cases perpetuated against campus journalists and the press in general remain just as harrowing.
From 2023 to 2024, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines has reported 206 cases of campus press freedom violations (CPFV), ranging from censorship, administrative interference, harassment, and attacks meant to silence. And just this February, The Spark, the official student publication of the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, faced the textbook definition of state intimidation.
This is the reality for many and it remains rampant despite the existence of the outdated Campus Journalism Act of 1991, which fails to safeguard the very people they claim to protect. As such, these violations have engraved their way to the stateโs political culture, as if it is the norm. Cementing itself as a major hurdle that ironically demands the silence of campus journalists and their subservience to powerโsomething that the practice inherently works against.
The continuous repressive climate collegeโand even high schoolโpublications face just shows the difference in magnitude of authoritarian power. That state-sponsored suppression isnโt limited to professional media workers alone. That no one is exempt, no matter the level, so long as they do not bow or cower to the illusion of power detached leaders and politicians weaponize.
Campus journalism is meant to inform and expose, not withhold information nor pamper leaders. It serves as a platform for students to express legitimate concerns and not for those in power to sanitize their images.
When students are actively silenced for engaging in social, economic, and political discourse, it boils down to how equipped they are in terms of safeguarding their rights. Disappointingly, the outdated Campus Journalism Act of 1991 is similar to RA 11440 given how it neither promotes nor safeguards campus journalists. And for letting the proposed Campus Press Freedom (CPF) Billโwhich has stronger, more specific sanctions against CPFVs, such as a fine of at most P200,000 and imprisonment for one to five years upon convictionโto languish in Congress is plain, calculated negligence.
A culture of impunity that refuses to die will never be curtailed by a one-day โcommemorationโ of campus press freedom. Rather, it is through mounting constant pressure on the administration to pass the CPF Bill to bolster the rights of campus journalists. Moreover, it is also key to hold school administrators accountable to uphold, not suppress, the independence of student publications.
Ultimately, no amount of national recognition, done just for the sake of it, can erase the documented and undocumented violations against student journalists, as well as the deep-seated culture of silencing dissent. True protection will never come from decorative laws nor performative solidarity. Until these are realized, July 25 will remain a day that mocks the very freedom it claims to honor.
