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

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 3636

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane I. Elago

EXPLANATORY NOTE

‘The campus press has an invaluable contribution to the restoration and preservation of
the 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 Rodriguez,
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
produced many nameless 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 like 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.

Itis 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’ order of battle, 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 school 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,

It is 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 school 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 require that those student
publications that remain closed until the present be reopened for the benefit of
students.

(4) The law does not contain 2 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 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 law, 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-Manila

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) padlocking 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 that has been hanging
over the campus press for several decades now and replace it with a law that genuinely upholds
‘campus press freedom

In light 9F1ffe foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought

Representative/Kabataan Party-list


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

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill-No.

3636

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane |. Elago

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. - It is the deciared 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.

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

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following are hereby
defined as follows:


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

(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;

(d) “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:

(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;

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 campus. 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,


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The operations of the student publications shall not be delayed, suspended, or closed
down in connection with the articles it has published, or on the basis of the conduct or performance
of its staff without due process.

SECTION 7. Funding of Student Publications. — Funding for the student publication shall
be sourced primarily from student publication fees collected by the schoo! administration. It shall
be mandatory for the school administration to collect student publication/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 shall issue a list of the students enrolled for the current semester or
term to the editorial board,

SECTION 8. Transmittal 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 withhold 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
faculty adviser, the editorial board shall have the power to choose its faculty adviser, whose
functions shall be limited merely to technical assistance. The technical assistance of the faculty
adviser shall mean any concern related to the grammatical concerns, proofreading and the like.

SECTION 10. Security 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 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 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,

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divisional, and regional levels, 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 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 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, 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.

SECTION 15. Administrative Sanctions. - The 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 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 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 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 utilities of the office; non-establishment of at least 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, 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
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SECTION 17. Reportorial Requirements. - The Commission on Higher Education, the
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Department of Education 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 P100,000 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

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. 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 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 section or provision of this Act shalll be declared
unconstitutional, the remaining sections or provisions shall not be affected thereby.

SECTION 21. Repeal. — Republic Act No. 7079, entitled “AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF CAMPUS JOURNALISM" is hereby repealed.

Alllaws, 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 21. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the completion
of its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation,

Approved,

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