30/08/2026
This August 30, we commemorate National Press Freedom Day amid continuing attacks against journalists across the country. From harassment and red-tagging to imprisonment and killings, Filipino journalists continue to face threats for doing work that the public depends onโreporting the truth and holding power to account.
On this day, the UP Visayas Solidaridad stands with journalists, campus publications, and all those who continue to uphold the peopleโs right to know.
CAMPUS PRESS SITUATION IN UP VISAYAS
At UP Visayas, protecting press freedom means ensuring that student publications can carry out their work independently and responsibly. This begins with respecting their autonomy over their internal processes and editorial decisions, including the selection of their editorial leadership. Processes that belong to student publications must remain theirs to govern.
That independence also depends on recognizing the campus press as a legitimate public-interest institution. During the UPV Chancellor Selection sectoral consultations, student publications were barred from covering the proceedings, preventing them from fulfilling their role of informing the community about a university process of clear public concern.
Independence also depends on having the resources and space to do the work. Student publications in the university have reported difficulties in securing publication funds, including instances where matters unrelated to publication expenses have been raised and have delayed the processing of funds. The lack of dedicated and suitable spaces for presswork and newsroom operations also affects the ability of publications to carry out their work.
These are not separate concerns. These material conditions shape how independently a campus press can operate and serve the university community.
PRESS FREEDOM BEYOND THE UNIVERSITY
The struggle for press freedom extends beyond the university. Journalists who report on marginalized and neglected communities continue to face state-sponsored harassment, criminalization, and violence.
We remember RJ Ledesma of Paghimutad-Negros, who was slain in the Toboso military offensive last April and would have turned 31 on National Press Freedom Day. We condemn any efforts to reduce his life and work to allegations meant to discredit him rather than recognize him as a community journalist.
We likewise call for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and the other members of the Tacloban 5, and oppose the criminalization and prolonged detention of journalists to suppress legitimate journalistic work and critical expression.
These cases underscore the need to protect journalists and campus press workers from red-tagging, harassment, intimidation, and other forms of reprisal.
PASS CAMPUS PRESS FREEDOM BILL NOW!
The continuing threats against campus journalists show that existing protections are no longer enough.
The Campus Journalism Act of 1991 (RA 7079) is no longer sufficient to protect campus journalism in an environment where censorship has evolved beyond outright publication bans. More than three decades after its passage, the law has yet to keep pace with the realities of campus journalism today.
Censorship and attacks on press freedom have evolved as campus journalists now face online harassment, doxxing, coordinated attacks, and other forms of intimidation that the 1991 law was never designed to address. As the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility notes, these limitations leave campus journalists vulnerable to forms of interference that the 1991 law was never designed to confront.
More critically, RA 7079 does not provide sufficiently clear and enforceable mechanisms to hold administrations accountable when press freedom is violated. This includes instances where administrations interfere with the editorial autonomy of student publications, or withhold or delay funds as means of pressuring campus publications for their work.
We therefore support efforts to strengthen campus press freedom with the enactment of the Campus Press Freedom Bill.
OUR CALL TO THE NEXT UPV CHANCELLOR
As UP Visayas enters a new administration, genuine campus press freedom must be one of the key calls to the incoming chancellor to ensure that student journalists can exercise press autonomy, free from undue interference.
We call on the next UPV Chancellor to:
1. Uphold press freedom as a fundamental principle by recognizing and safeguarding the autonomy of student publications, including their internal processes and editorial decisions.
2. Ensure reasonable access for campus journalists to university events, consultations, and proceedings that concern the university community.
3. Guarantee student publications have equitable access to university resources, including funding and facilities needed for presswork, through clear and streamlined processes.
4. Ensure the meaningful participation of members of the broader university community, including workers and service providers, in policies, programs, and decisions that directly affect them.
