REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No, 1155

Introduced by KABATAAN PARTY-LIST Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel

AN ACT
UPHOLDING AND PROMOTING CAMPUS JOURNALISM AND CAMPUS PRESS
FREEDOM, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7079, ENTITLED
“AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF CAMPUS
JOURNALISM”, PENALIZING VIOLATIONS AGAINST CAMPUS PRESS FREEDOM
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The campus press has an invaluabie contribution to the restoration and preservation
of free speech and expression inside and outside our nation's campuses

As early as the periods of the Spanish, American, and Japanese Occupations,
campus journalists have braved repressive conditions in order to expose the grim realities
under a colonial government. During the tumultuous decades under Martial Law, campus
publications served as the alternative press as Presidential Proclamation 1081 imposed
state censorship and ordered the closure of major dailies, television and radio stations, and
even community papers. As part of the alternative press, campus publications countered
State propaganda and fought for the espousal of truth that pierced through the maelstrom
of the political and economic injustices of the time.

From the campus press also came prominent and notable figures in Philippine
politics, media, art, literature, and business, who. in one way or another, have contributed
significantly to their respective fields. The campus press instilled in many of them the
hunger for truth and social change that served as the first stirrings of their nationalist
consciousness. Among the known products of the campus press are Amado V. Hernandez,
Wenceslao Vinzons. Ernesto Rodriquez. Jr.. Armando Malay, Renato Constantino, Elmer
Ordofiez, Homobono Adaza, Ramon V. Mitra, Leonardo Quisumbing, Luis Teodoro. Antonio
Tagamolila. Abraham Sarmiento. Jr. Malou Mangahas, Artemio Panganiban, Miriam
Defensor-Santiago, Helena Z. Benitez. Rolando Tolentino, Satur Ocampo, Joe Taruc, and
many others, But more importantly, the campus press have produced many nameiess and
faceless heroes who not only used the pen to hone their skills but to write narratives that
“sting” the powers-that-be.

In the many campuses today, student publications that continue to uphold and
preserve their thrust as an alternative media act as vanguards of academic freedom. In
particular, student publications iike the Philippine Collegian of the University of the
Philippines Diliman, The Torch of the Philippine Normal University, The Catalyst of the
Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and several others are able to openly and


comprehensively discuss sexuality, armed conflict and other topics often left out or even
misunderstood by the mainstream media

The campus press is regarded as a concrete manifestation of the students’
democratic rights and a tangible expression of press freedom in the campus. Through it,
students are able to practice their rights to freedom of expression and information, rights
that are protected by the 1987 Constitution, It does not exist for commercial purposes,
unlike the mainstream press that depends primarily on advertisements as its lifeblood
While there are some student publications that resort to advertisements in order to generate
additional funds, the majority of campus publications throughout the country rely on the
collection of student fees to maintain their operations. The campus press is expected to
uphold the interests of the students amid various issues such as the incessant and
unabated tuition and other fees increases. repressive student policies, the militarization of
campuses, and various assaults on their democratic rights. However, it does not
discriminate between local and national issues because it recognizes that the student body
and the community outside our schools and universities are hounded by the same political
and economic contradictions. It is therefore not surprising to find student journalists in
conflict with institutions who use their authority to quell free speech and expression. Many
student editors and writers have been persecuted throughout history, especially during the
60s, 70s, and 80s when nationalist thoughts were dismissed as threats to the government
Today, student journalists continue to face the same dilemma despite the freedoms and
rights enshrined in our Constitution. Student journalists who are critical of the government's
policies are being tagged by the military as enemies of the State, openly incriminating them
to a grand plot to overthrow the government. Student publications and editors are being
tagged as subversives and incorporated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP)
order of batlie, placing their lives in grave danger

Meanwhile, student journalists also experience harassment, especially in their own
backyard, While the school administration abides by the dictates of state abandonment, the
campus press struggles for students’ rights by boldly exposing anti-student policies and
condemning both the national and schoo! administration's policies of commercialization and
privatization. The student journalists are placed at the mercy of school authorities, who
have at their discretion the power to determine the student's fate inside the educational
institution

Itis simply preposterous that campus press freedom violations exist despite our
constitutionally-guaranteed rights to free speech and expression. Yet, it is, even more,
enraging that the existing law governing the existence and operations of campus
publications in the country is at fault for these assaults to campus press freedom

Republic Act No. 7079, otherwise known as the Campus Journalism Act of 1991,
was enacted on July 5, 1991, to supposedly uphold and protect the freedom of the press at
the campus level and to promote the development and growth of campus journalism, as
stated in its declaration of policies. While it has some strong provisions, the seriously-
flawed Campus Journalism Act has been found to be insufficient and lacking in material
aspects to fully maintain the existence of the campus press, and protect the rights and
welfare of student journalists. Some of the weaknesses of the law are:

(1) It legalizes the non-mandatory collection of the publication fee, which is considered
as the lifeblood of most student publications. The law does not contain any provision
that would mandate schoo! administrations to collect student publication funds


Instead, it only enumerates the sources where the student publication funds may be
taken

(2) Section 7 of the law supposedly gives freedom and space for student journalists to
write without fear of any threat of suspension or expulsion, the qualification made by
the Supreme Court on the said provision by providing exemptions has rendered the
security of tenure provision practically useless. One notable exemption is “material
disruption of class work or involving substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of
others,” which is too broad that even a simple factual article may fall within its
application.

(3) The law does not make it mandatory for all colleges and universities in the
Philippines to establish student publications. Neither does the said law requires that
those student publications that remain closed until the present be reopened for the
benefit of students

(4) The law does not contain a penalty clause, leaving erring administrations unscathed
School administrations are able to commit offense after offense yet suffer no
retribution due to the absence of a penalty provision.

(5) The Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) Order No, 94, Series of
1992. the implementing rules and regulations of the law, contains simply guidelines
on the implementation of its provisions with the additional rules on jurisdiction over
cases that may arise from violations of the said law. As the implementing rules and
regulations cannot lawfully narrow or restrict and expand, broaden. or enlarge the
provisions of the aw, DECS Order No. 94 naturally carries the weaknesses of
Campus Journalism Act of 1991

Given these inherent flaws of the law, it is no surprise that the enactment of Campus
Journalism Act of 1991 resulted in even more campus press freedom violations that are
even more clever and devious in form

According to the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), the oldest and
broadest intercollegiate alliance of student publications in the country, several student
publications were suddenly closed after the passage of the said law, including three major
student publications in the country. namely, The Quezonian of the Manuel L. Quezon
University, Ang Pamantasan of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, The White and
Blue of the St. Louis University, The Pedon of the Mindanao State University-Marawi,
EARIST Technozette of the Eulogio "Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and
Technology, The Dawn of the University of the East, Monthly Quest of the Quezon City
Polytechnic University, and the La Sallian of the De La Salle University-Manita

Based on the cases documented by the CEGP since 1992, student publications
nationwide faced systemic assaults including the following: (1) harassment of student
writers and editors: (2) meddling with editorial policies; (3) actual censorship of editorial
content, (4) withholding of publication funds; (5) non-collection of publication fee; (6)
padiocking of the publication office: (7) closure of the student publication; (8) suspension
and expulsion of student editors and writers; and (9) filing of libel charges against them

From 2010-2015, the CEGP has reported that more than 800 cases of campus press
freedom violations, Of the more than 800 cases consolidated, 322 are related to


inconsistencies and suppression of funds. Meanwhile, censorship, administration
intervention, and harassment are also of the glaring number.

One current example of such is the case of the Philippine Collegian, the official student
publication of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, which was not able to print its
first issue for the academic year 2016-2017 due to the UP administration's insistence on
labyrinthine procurement processes.

Student publications at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) are also
currently facing problems. College student publications at the PUP currently face the threat
of closure as the PUP administration aims to establish a “centralized publication" which will
be university-wide in nature. Meanwhile, the publication fee of The Catalyst, the official
university student publication, is planned to be cut by half from P40 to P20. Despite the
supposed fiscal autonomy granted to publications, the PUP administration has control over
the funds of several campus publications (e.g. The Business Torch, the official student
publication of the PUP College of Business Administration, The Engineering Spectrum, the
official student publication of the PUP College of Engineering; and The Paradigm, the
official student publication of the PUP College of Accountancy and Finance, among others)
Because of this, The Business Torch and The Engineering Spectrum cannot print and
release issues since the PUP administration refuses to release their funds. Conflicts of
interest between school administrators and students inevitably result in repression of the
students’ democratic rights. On the one hand, you have school administrations willing to
Violate students’ rights in order to preserve their reputation and protect their vested
interests. On the other, you have student publications that are at the forefront of forwarding
the interests of the students and the people.

These violations happen under the guise of unnecessarily tedious bureaucratic
processes, which upon closer scrutiny are exposed as schemes aimed at silencing student
publications that publish incisive stories and articles linked with the struggle of the student
body

In the case of the Philippine Collegian, it has run in-depth and investigative reports
critical of the UP administration's commercialization and privatization policies such as the
privatized student housing scheme. the Socialized Tuition System (STS), and the e-UP
project. Such articles have been instrumental in intensifying the campaign against anti-
student policies. spurring mass actions not just in UP Diliman but in other UP units as well

Several bills have been filed in the previous Congresses seeking to amend the
Campus Journalism Act. Although the House of Representatives has recognized the flaws
of the law, the proposed amendments by several legislators focused only on the financial
aspect of the Campus Journalism Act and still fail to address the roots of campus press
freedom violations.

This bill, thus, seeks to repeal the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 which has been
hanging over the campus press for several decades now and replace it with a law that
genuinely uphoids campus press freedom.

In view of the wa passage of this bill is earnestly sought

REP. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL
Kabataan Party-list


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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 1 135

Introduced by KABATAAN PARTY-LIST Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel

AN ACT
UPHOLDING AND PROMOTING CAMPUS JOURNALISM AND CAMPUS PRESS
FREEDOM, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7079, ENTITLED
“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 of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled.

SECTION 1. Short Title — This Act shall be known as the “Campus Press Freedom Act

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - Itis the 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 2 society that promotes and protects this constitutionally afforded right of press
freedom

The State thus resolves to undertake various programs and projects aimed at
improving the journalistic skills of students concerned, to promote responsible and free
journalism. to reopen all closed student publications, to establish student publications in
schools where there are none, and to protect and to uphold freedom of the press at the
campus level and the rights of campus journalists at all times.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - as used in this Act, the following terms shall
mean.

(a) “School — an institution for learning in the elementary, secondary. or tertiary level
composed of the studentry, administration, faculty, and non-faculty personnel;


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(b) “Student” — any person enrolled in elementary, secondary, post-secondary, tertiary
graduate. and post-graduate levels, including those enrolled in vocational and
technical education.

(0) “Student publication’ — the issue of any printed and/or online material such as, but
not limited to, newspapers, wall news, literary folios, newsletters, and other similar
forms. independently published by, and which meets the needs and interests of the
students:

(a) “Student journalist — any bona fide student enrolled for the current semester or
term, who has passed or met the qualification and standards of the editorial board;

(e) “Editorial board’ — shall be composed of student journalists who have qualified in
placement examinations and shall be primarily in charge of setting the tone of the
paper in accordance to the thrust of the publication. The editorial board may include
a publication adviser at the option of its members;

(f) “Editorial policies’ — a set of guidelines by which a student publication is operated
and managed. taking into account pertinent laws as well as the school
administration's reasonable policies. The said guidelines, which shall be created and
determined by the editorial board, shall determine the frequency of the publication,
the manner of selecting articles and features and other similar matters:

(9) "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.

SECTION 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 shall have at least one (1) student publication without prejudice to
other publications established within the carpus, A student publication shall be published by
the student body through an editorial board and publication staff composed of students
selected through fair and competitive examinations.

All student publications whose operations cease upon the directives of the school
administration shall be revived and allowed to operate again

‘Once the publication is established of reopened, the editorial board shall freely determine
its editorial policies and manage the publication's funds.

SECTION 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

SECTION 6. Independence — The student publication shall be autonomous from
any form of 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

SECTION 7. Funding of Student Publications. — Funding for the student publication
shall be sourced primarily from student publication fees collected by the school
administration. It shall be mandatory for the school administration to collect student


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Pubication/subscription fees during the enrollment 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 the basis for the amount of publication funds that shall be released by the
school administrator who shail issue a list of the students enrolled for the current semester
or term to the editorial board

SECTION 8. Tiansinittal of 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 enrollment. The publication funds shall be deposited in 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
school administration concerned withheld the release of funds intended for the student
publication

SECTION 9. 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 facuity adviser, the editorial board shall have the power to choose its faculty
adviser. whose functions shail be limited merely to technical assistance. The technical
assistance of the faculty adviser shall mean any concem related to the grammatical
concerns, proofreading and the like

SECTION 10. Sccurity of Tenure. — A member of the publication staff shall maintain
his or her status as a student in order to retain membership in the publication staff. The
student journalist shail not be suspended, expelled or punished with administrative
sanctions solely on the basis of the articles he or she has written except when such articles
constitute a violation of the law. and the school's valid and reasonable rules and
regulations

His or her performance as a student should not be used as the basis for his or her
dismissal from the student publication

SECTION 11. 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 fevels, culminating with
the holding of the annual national elementary, secondary, or tertiary School Press
Conference in place of historical and/or cultural interest in the country.

SECTION 12. Powers and Functions of the Editorial Board. — The Editorial Board
shall have the power to select the staff members of the student 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 to the operation of
the student publication and the management of its funds. At the end of each semester or


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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 on the school's
bulletin board or published in the school publication

SECTION 13. Printing of 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 9184 also
known as the Procurement Reform Act with regard the selection of a printing press and the
purchase of equipment and materials necessary for its operations. The editorial board shall
freely choose the printing press it wants to avail the services of.

SECTION 14. Power to Investigate. — The Commission on Higher Education
(CHED). the Technica! Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the
Department of Education (DepEd), as the case may be, shall be granted the power to.
investigate any violation of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.

SECTION 15. Administrative Sanctions. — The Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the
Department of Education (DepEd). as the case may be, shail impose administrative
sanctions for these campus press freedom violations, including, but not limited to
interrogation and intimidation of editors and staff members and other forms of harassment
by the schoo! 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 libelous public statement against student journalists, 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 utlities of the office, non-establishment
of at leas! one (1) campus publication for every school, refusal to reopen closed student
publications.

SECTION 16. Legal Assistance to Campus Journalists. — The Commission on
Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA), and the Department of Education (DepEd), as the case may be, shall provide
legal assistance to student journalists in all cases as herein cited

SECTION 17. Reportorial Requirements. — The Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the
Department of Education (DepEd) shall submit an annual report to both houses of
Congress on the status of the implementation of the law including violations thereof and the
disposition of pertinent cases.

SECTION 18. Penalties. — Any person who shall willfully 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
P7100,000 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.


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If the offender is an education institution or a juridical person, the penalty shall be
imposed upon the president, treasurer or secretary, or any officer responsible for the
violation

SECTION 19. Rules and Regulations. — The Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of
Education (DepEd), and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), in close
consultation and coordination with student and campus press organizations and all other
concerned sectors, shall promulgate within sixty (60) days upon its approval, the rules and
regulations for the implementation of this Act

SECTION 20. Separability Clause. — If any part or provision of this Act is held
unconstitutional or parts thereof, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby
shall continue to be in full force and effect

SECTION 21. Repeating Clause. — Republic Act No. 7079. entitled “An Act
Providing for the Development and Promotion of Campus Journalism,” is hereby repealed.

All laws. presidential decrees, executive orders, letters of instruction, rules and
regulations which are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed

SECTION 22. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved