EXPLAINER | Press Office Eviction: Today’s Carolinian Struggle for Press Freedom

When we think of a student press office, we often picture a room bustling with unyielding energy: a board jammed with news pitches, printers buzzing nonstop, and the glow of laptop screens, reflected in the resolute eyes of student journalists. 

But what happens when this space, one so critical to realizing a functional publication, is taken away from them? 

University publications in the Philippines have been crucial in keeping the student body alive. They are at the forefront of amplifying the pulse of the students and shedding light on issues that shake the campus and beyond. 

At the peak of the Marcos dictatorship, campus journalists took bold strides in opposing the suppression of the students’ democratic rights. 

Liliosa Hilao wrote critical essays as associate editor of Ang Pamantasan (then, Hasik), the school paper of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, expressing sharp dissent with her piece, "Democracy is Dead in the Philippines under Martial Law.” Abraham “Ditto” Sarmiento Jr. similarly raised the clamor of the youth with his editorials when he served as an Editor-in-Chief of Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines - Diliman. 

Building on this culture of critical journalism, various campus publications today remain vigilant in reporting campus affairs, especially concerning tuition fee hikes, mandatory ROTC, burdening academic calendars, and other pressing issues that must be made known to the public in fleshed-out details. 

Their existence has proven necessary as they not only foster a well-informed community but also encourage discussions on how these university policies and issues affect the students’ lives. 

Yet despite this crucial role, campus journalists in the Philippines constantly endure press attacks from administrative power, often pressured to remove investigative pieces and reports deemed unfavorable to the school's reputation. 

For a university in Cebu, it reaches a point where they lock the door of the publication office, going so far as to remove the vanguards of truth from their working space. 

Today’s Carolinian, the official progressive student publication of the University of San Carlos (USC), has recently been forced to vacate from its remaining office in USC - Downtown Campus amid a years-long series of press attacks from the university administration.

“Effective January 15, 2025, this office space, Room No. G112 will be used by the Alumni Office.” 

On January 17, Today’s Carolinian posted on its Facebook page a photo of the eviction note, written on a piece of paper and taped over its office at the USC - Downtown Campus.

In an interview with Bulatlat, Today’s Carolinian managing editor for development Deanella Molato revealed that the publication did not receive any prior information regarding the office eviction.

 “If not for one of our associate editors passing by the office, we would have found out even later,” said Molato.

She added that they were previously forced to vacate from their Talamban campus office, supposedly making the room at USC - Downtown campus their remaining place to work. 

Without a space, members are forced to pay to book a facility. Room bookings in the university, however, are mostly reserved for registered organizations under the Office of Student Formation and Activities (OSFA). 

Molato shared that what they felt as “repression” may stem from the publication’s reportage on critical issues inside the university and its steadfast refusal to register under the OSFA. 

Today's Carolinian holds firm in its decision not to register under the OSFA due to concerns about ‘red- taping’.

In an exclusive interview with Explained PH, Today’s Carolinian news editor Gwyneth Anne Antonio described the publication's ongoing struggle to call for adequate student spaces and the repeated denial of press access.

After the university introduced the OSFA in 2022, all organizations have faced pressure to register or risk losing access to campus facilities.  

The Supreme Student Council and Today's Carolinian, both historically recognized by the Carolinians as official student institutions, were also required to comply. 

“For TC's instance, we have not been given media passes since 2022 for USC Days, our intramural events,” Antonio stated.

She added that in 2023, there was also an attempt to remove the publication from its Week of Welcome booth due to a similar reason for not being registered under the OSFA.

Furthermore, in 2024, the publication was prohibited from covering both the SSC elections and the graduation ceremonies.

“Despite the consequences, TC remains firm in not registering under OSFA,” she said. 

Antonio also shared that student organizations have voiced their concerns about OSFA's red-taping, which involves requirements, monitoring, and penalties that are “repressive, unjust, and arbitrary.”

Today's Carolinian, as an independent publication, maintains its right to freedom of the press on campus, arguing that the OSFA accreditation, with its bureaucratic control and censorship, would hamper its ability to operate.

Known for its critical coverage of administrative policies affecting students, Today’s Carolinian is no stranger to campus press repression.

In 2019, the University of San Carlos implemented a Tuition and Other Fees Increase (TOFI). Today's Carolinian reported that the USC administration had failed to notify the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of this increase.

The university administration responded by withdrawing Today's Carolinian's subscription for the next summer term. Since then, Today's Carolinian has operated independently, without funding support from the university.

In an interview with Sunstar, Atty. Joan Largo, vice president for administration, admitted that the reason behind the defunding is that they "do not control any funds of the paper." 

While publication fees were traditionally included in the charges billed by schools to support student publications, the USC administration has since stopped collecting funds for Today’s Carolinian. 

Moreover, Atty. Largo called the recent issue on the press office a "prudent use of limited campus spaces, nothing more."

She acknowledged the "repurposing" of the office but refused to use the term eviction. Due to the school’s “limited resources,” she explained that it required them to allocate the space to the office needing it the most.  

"I assure you, there is no violation (by USC), even as I maintain there is no eviction," she said, citing the Campus Journalism Act and CHED Memo No.9, series of 2013.

As years have passed since the enactment of The Republic Act (RA) 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act (CJA) of 1991, campus publications still grapple with media repression, prompting concerns about the law’s ability to truly “uphold and protect the freedom of the press.”

Antonio noted that the Campus Journalism Act's non-mandatory provision for the collection of publication fees presents a “loophole that could be easily taken advantage of.” 

On the funding of student publications, Section 5 of the law states that it “may include the savings of the respective school's appropriations, student subscriptions, donations, and other sources of funds.”

Danilo Arao, an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, argues that the law, while possessing strengths, also “has its share of weaknesses,” pointing out that there is no definite statement that mandates the school to allocate a budget for the student publication.

“The use of the word ‘may’ makes budget appropriation for student publications optional,” he stated at the National Conference on Campus Journalism and 6th Writing Competition in 2013. 

 

Moreover, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights in 2020 as there have been nearly a thousand reports on violations and attacks against campus press freedom since 2010.

The violations of the law cited but not limited to are “harassment and/or killings of student writers and editors, meddling with editorial policies, actual censorship of editorial content, withholding and looting publication funds, non-collection or non-mandatory collection of publication fee, administrative intervention, suspension and expulsion of student editors and writers, and filing of libel charges against student journalists.”

Amid the administration’s attempt at silencing its critical reporting, Today’s Carolinian has remained steadfast in demanding accountability from the administration.

 

A protest rally took place in front of the USC Talamban Campus on Tuesday, January 21, organized by members of Today's Carolinian, USC student supporters, and the Cebu chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP-Cebu).

Last January 23, a resolution authored by representatives Raoul Danniel Manuel, Arlene Brosas, and France Castrowas from Makabayan Bloc was also filed in the House of Representatives.

“Today’s Carolinian was not given a reasonable time frame to vacate the office or relocate its operations, causing undue disruption to its work as an independent student media outlet,” the resolution reads.

Since the office displacement, Today's Carolinian has actively sought alliances to restore its status as the official student publication of USC and challenge the OSFA's accreditation requirements.

The publication has consulted with other USC student publications about their own challenges and jointly submitted a letter to the university administration requesting a formal dialogue.

Today's Carolinian has also collaborated with the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and its member publications, along with other USC organizations, and TC alumni.

Various university publications and progressive groups nationwide expressed their solidarity with Today’s Carolinian, sending the call for press freedom in loud ripples as they share sentiments on administrative repression. 

These collective efforts seek to address both the immediate office displacement issue and the broader concern on press freedom and the students' right to organize and engage in critical discourse.