EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
F irs t R egular Session
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'(Kficf o( tije ^ frrfta rf
S E N A T E
'19 
NOV 27 
P3 :32
Introduced by SENATOR RAMON BONG REVILLA, JR.
AN ACT
UPHOLDING AND PROMOTING CAMPUS JOURNALISM AND CAMPUS PRESS 
FREEDOM, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7079, 
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND 
PROMOTION 
OF 
CAMPUS 
JOURNALISM, 
PENALIZING 
VIOLATIONS 
AGAINST CAMPUS PRESS FREEDOM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
In the Philippines, freedom of the press is tantamount to the right to self- 
expression of every Filipino. This gave birth to Republic Act 7079, otherwise known as 
the Campus Journalism Act of 1991. But long before the law has been passed, the 
Education Bureau has already been conducting the National Schools Press Conference 
(NSPC), one of the highest academic competitions in the country which aims to test 
the communication skills of Filipino campus journalists. Based on records, the first 
NSPC was held in 1920, making next year the centennial anniversary of Campus 
Journalism in the Philippines.
With its focus on oral and written communication skills coupled by the principles 
of truth, fairness and patriotism. Campus Journalism is an integral key in nation­
building. The campus press is the concrete manifestation of the students' democratic 
rights and a tangible expression of press freedom in the campus. The campus press 
brought about some prominent and notable figures in Philippine politics, media, art, 
literature who have, in one way or another, have contributed significantly to their


respective fields. The campus press instilled in many of them the higher for truth and 
social change that served as the first stirrings of their nationalist consciousness.
Tfiis proposed measure seeks to repeal RA 7079 and bring to fore a new 
Campus Journalism Act that promotes Campus Journalism and upholds campus press 
freedom. This bill seeks to protect student journalists and promote their welfare while 
pushing forward the interests of their fellow students and other various issues that 
concerns them.
it is time for us to also build a nation of journalists to fully maximize the ability 
and ubiquity of our future leaders. In view of the foregoing, passage of this bill is 
earnestly sought.
RAMOr*/B ^IG  REVILLA, JR.


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
F irs t R egular Session
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S E N A T E
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i P
of il)!’ i&i'' rrtarj>
*19 
NOV 27 
P3:33
Introduced by SENATOR RAMON BONG REVILLA, 3R.
AN ACT
UPHOLDING AND PROMOTING CAMPUS JOURNALISM AND CAMPUS PRESS 
FREEDOM, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7079, 
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND 
PROMOTION 
OF 
CAMPUS 
JOURNALISM, 
PENALIZING 
VIOLATIONS 
AGAINST CAMPUS PRESS FREEDOM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f the Congress assembled:
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Section 1. Short 77f/a -  This act shall be known as the " Campus Press Freedom
Act.
Sec. 2. Declaration o f Policy. -  It is declared policy of the State to promote the 
development and growth of campus journalism as a means of encouraging critical and 
creative thinking and as a beacon of nationalism and democracy inside and outside 
the nation's campuses.
The State also firmly recognizes the historic role and contribution of the campus 
press to press freedom in the country, in providing a free and adequate venue for the 
discussion of student concerns, and in upholding social consciousness and defending 
the interest and welfare of the Filipino people by tackling both national and sectoral 
issues in its pages. The State realizes that the campus press, as part of the media, is 
an important institution in society that promotes and protects this constitutionally- 
afforded right of press freedom.


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The State thus resolves to undertake various programs and projects aimed at
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improving the journalistic skills of students concerned, promote responsible and free
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journalism, re-open all closed student publications, establish student publications ins
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schools where there are none, and protect and uphold freedom of the press at the
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campus level and the rights of campus journalists at all times.
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Sec. 3. Definition o f Terms. -  For purposes of this Act, the following are hereby
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defined as follows:
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(a) School- an institution for learning in the elementary, secondary or tertiary
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level composed of the studentry, administration, faculty and non-faculty
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personnel;
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(b) S tudent- any person enrolled in elementary, secondary, tertiary, graduate
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and post graduate levels, including those enrolled in vocational and
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technical education;
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(c) Student Publication -  the issue of any printed and/or online material such
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as, but not limited to, newspapers, wall news, literary folios, newsletters
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and other similar forms, independently published by, and which meets the
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needs and interests of, the students;
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(d) Student jou rna list- any bona-fide student enrolled for the current semester
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of term, who has passed or met the qualifications and standards of the
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editorial board;
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(e) Editorial board- shall be composed of student journalists who have qualified
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in placement examinations and shall be primarily in-charge of setting the
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tone of the paper in accordance to the thrust of the publication. The editorial
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board may include a publication adviser at the option of its members;
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(f) Editorial policies -  a set of guidelines by which a student publication is
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operated and managed, taking into account pertinent laws as well as the
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school administration's reasonable policies. The said guidelines, which shall
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be created and determined by the editorial 
board, shall determine 
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frequency of the publication, the manner of selecting articles and features
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and other similar matters; and


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(g) Editor-in-Chief- shall be the publication's primary editor chosen through a 
competitive but fair selection process. The process of selecting the editor- 
in-chief shall be determined by the student body.
Sec. 4. Student Publication -  All educational institutions on the elementary, 
secondary and tertiary levels, public or private shall be mandated to establish a 
student publication. Every school have at least one (1) student publication without 
prejudice to other publications established within the campus. A student publication 
shall be published by the student bod through an editorial board and publication staff 
composed of students selected through fair and competitive examinations.
All student publications whose operations ceased upon the directives of the 
school administration shall be revived and allowed to operate again.
Sec. 5. Operations -  The school administration shall provide the student 
publication with an office preferably located at the school's student center and other 
materials and equipment necessary for its operations.
Sec. 6. Independence-l\\e student publication shall be autonomous from any 
administrative intervention with regard to the handling of its funds, the content of the 
articles the editorial board chooses to publish, the selection of its publication staff and 
members of the editorial board.
The operations of the student publications shall not be delayed, suspended or 
closed down in connection with the articles it has published, or on basis of the conduct 
or performance of its staff without due process/
Sec. 7. Special Program For Campus Journalism. -  The Commission on Higher 
Education, Department of Education or the Technical 
Education and Skills 
Development Authority, as the case may be, is hereby mandated to implement a 
Special Program for Campus Journalism in close coordination with existing campus 
journalists and publication staff.


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Sec. 8. Funding o f Student Publications -  Funding for the student publication 
shall be sourced primarily from the student publication fees collected by the school 
administration. It shall be mandatory for the school administration to collect student 
publication/subscription fees during the enrolment period. The members of the 
student publication can opt to collect the publication funds themselves upon their 
initiative and under their full discretion and without administrative intervention. 
Secondary sources of publication funds shall also include the savings of the respective 
school's appropriations.
For this purpose, the number of bona fide students enrolled for the current 
semester or term shall be used as basis for the amount of publication funds that shall 
be released by the school administrator who shall issue a list of the students enrolled 
for the current semester or term to the editorial board.
Sec. 9. Transmittal o f Funds -  The school administration shall effect the 
automatic release of the student subscription fees to the student publication within 
fifteen (15) days after the last day of enrolment. The publication funds shall be 
deposited through a trust fund or in the account of the student publication in an 
authorized depository bank.
In no instance shall the Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education 
and Skills Development Authority, and the Department of Education, as the case may 
be, or the schooi administration concerned withhold the release of funds intended for 
the student publication.
Sec. 10. Publication Adviser -  The editorial board shall have the discretion 
whether or not they would appoint a faculty adviser. In case the student publication 
decides to appoint a faculty adviser, the editorial board shall have the power to choose 
its faculty adviser, whose functions shall be limited merely to technical assistance. 
Technical assistance of the faculty adviser shall mean any concern related to the 
grammatical concerns, proofreading and the like.
Sec. 11. Security o f Tenure -  
member of the publication staff shall maintain 
his or her status as student in order to retain membership in the publication staff. The


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Student journalist shall not be suspended, expelled or punished with administrative 
sanctions solely on the basis of the articles he or she has written except when such 
articies constitute a violation of law, and the school's valid and reasonable schools and 
regulations.
His or her performance as a student should not be used as basis for his or her 
dismissal from the student publication.
Sec. 12. Press Conferences and Training Seminars- The Commission on Higher 
Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the 
Department of Education, in partnership with media and campus press organizations 
and alliances, shall sponsor periodic competitions, press conferences and training 
seminars in which student editors/writers and teacher-adviser of student publications 
in the elementary, secondary and tertiary levels shall participate. Such competitions, 
conferences and seminars shall be held at the institutional, divisional, and regional 
levels, culminating with the holding of the annual national elementary, secondary or 
tertiary School Press Conference in places of historical and/or cultural interest in the 
country.
Sec. 13. Powers and Functions o f the Editorial Board- The Editorial Board shall 
have the power to select the staff members of the publication granted that the student 
journalists the board selected were able to pass a qualifying examination.
The editorial board shall also be primarily accountable with regard the operation 
of the student publication and the management of its funds. At the end of each 
semester or term, as the case may be, the editorial board shall prepare a report on 
the disbursement of funds subject to accounting and auditing rules. Such report shall 
be posted at the school's bulletin board or published in the school publication.
Sec. 14. Printing o f the Student Publication -  The printing of the student 
publication shall be conducted by the editorial board and the student publication staff 
through canvass or public bidding. For public schools, the student publication shall be 
exempted from undergoing formal and bidding process under Republic Act No. 9184


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also known as the Procurement Reform Act with regard the selection of a printing 
press and the purchase of equipment and material necessary for its operations. The 
editorial board shall freely choose the printing press it wants to avail the services of.
Sec. 15. Power to Investigate -  The Commission on Higher Education, the 
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Department of 
Education, as the case may be, shall be granted the power to investigate any violation 
of this act and its implementing rules and regulations.
Sec. 16. Administrative Sanctions-J\\e Commission on Higher Education, the 
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Department of 
Education, as the case may be shall impose administrative sanctions for campus press 
freedom violations, including, but not limited to, interrogation and intimidation of 
editors and staff members and other forms of harassment by the school 
administration, faculty members and the military, such as, but not limited to, sending 
of death threats, filing of libel cases against student journalists, issuance of derogatory 
and libellous public statements against student journalist; meddling of school 
administrators with editorial policies; 
actual censorship of editorial content; 
withholding and non-collection of publication fees; expulsion and suspension of 
student editors and writers without due process; stopping or suspending the 
operations of the school publication such as, but not limited to, the outright closure of 
the publication, locking of the publication office, cutting the electricity and water 
supplies and other utilities of the office; non-establishment of at least one (1) campus 
publication for every school; refusal to reopen closed student publications.
Sec. 17. Legal Assistance to Campus Journalists -  The Commission on Higher 
Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the 
Department of Education, as the case may be, shall provide legal assistance to student 
journalists in all cases as herein cited.
Sec. 18. ReportoriaiRequirements- The Commission on Higher Education, the 
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Education shall submit an annual report to both house of Congress on the status of 
the implementation of the law including violations thereof and the disposition of 
pertinent cases.
Sec. 19. Penalties -  Any person who shall wilfully interfere with, restrain or 
coerce any student publication/student journalist in the exercise of its/his/her 
functions and rights guaranteed by this act or who shall in any other manner commit 
any act to defeat any provision of this Act shall, upon conviction, be punished by a 
fine of not less than P100,000.00 but not more than P200,000 or imprisonment of not 
less than one (1) year but not more than five (5) years, or both at the discretion of 
the court or both upon conviction.
If the offender is an educational institution or a juridical person, the penalty 
shall be imposed upon the president treasurer or secretary or any officer responsible 
for the violation.
Sec. 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. -  The Commission on Higher 
Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the 
Department of Education, and in close consultation and coordination with student and 
campus press organizations and other concerned sectors, shall promulgate within 
thirty (30) days upon its approval, the rules and regulations necessary for the 
implementations of this Act.
Sec. 21. Separability Clause. If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
remain valid and subsisting.
Sec. 22. Repealing Clause. -  Republic Act No. 7079, entitled AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF CAMPUS JOURNALISM is 
hereby repealed.


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All laws, presidential decrees or issuances, executive orders, letter of 
instructions, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to, or inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.
Sec. 23. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved.