Various student publications across the country have faced various college press freedom violations (CPFVs) during the first quarter of 2025, with at least one incident occurring each month.
Let us look back at the violations faced by campus publications this year alone:
January 2025: Today’s Carolinian (University of San Carlos)
On Jan. 17, staff members of Today’s Carolinian (TC), the student publication of the University of San Carlos (USC), received an eviction notice from the admin stating their office would be repurposed as a workspace for the alumni.
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The Cebu-based progressive student publication lost its remaining office space, as their other room at the Talamban campus was also reassigned for admin-related use in August 2024. USC has five campuses in total.
Their recognition as the university’s official student publication remains in limbo, as they must first secure approval from the Office of Student Formations and Activities—an office with a history of “red-taping” resulting in “repressive and unjust requirements,” among other concerns.
Various local and national student organizations have also condemned the seizure of TC’s physical office, calling it an attempt to debilitate the publication’s operations.
Since 2019, TC has been operating without any funding or support from the university due to its critical reportage on the increase of tuition and other fees in the university.
February 2025: The SPARK (Camarines Sur Polytechnic College) & Tanglaw (Polytechnic of the Philippines Santa Rosa)
Less than a month after TC’s office seizure, The SPARK, Camarines Sur Polytechnic College’s official student publication, faced accusations from gubernatorial aspirant Luis Raymund “Lray” Villafuerte Jr. after the newsroom released mock election results showing him lagging behind his opponent.
Outgoing Camarines Sur Second District Representative Villafuerte denounced the results as “fake” and accused the publication’s associate editor, Fernan Matthew Enimedez, of being “biased” by using a Facebook photo with his family.
The SPARK debunked the accusations in a statement on February 8, asserting that the survey was conducted “without bias and intervention from any external persona.”
The Villafuerte clan has maintained political dominance in the province for nearly 30 years, with three family members currently holding key government positions.
Meanwhile, Tanglaw, the student publication of Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Santa Rosa Campus, was forcibly shut down in September 2024 after the administration claimed that its name was “already copyrighted.”
On February 15, the campus’s student council formally presented demands for Tanglaw’s reinstatement, including the resumption of its operations, allocation of funding, and official recognition as a student publication.
After almost a month, the admin and student leaders reached a consensus that Tanglaw would be recognized as a “school publication under institutional management” and students can submit contributions.
“With this resolution, ‘Tanglaw’ will officially transition from a student-led publication to a school-operated one, and its name will no longer be used or cited as an official student publication of the campus,” according to an update from the publication on March 4.
March 2025: Atenews (Ateneo de Davao University)
Atenews, the official student publication of Ateneo de Davao University, released a statement on March 11—alongside other Ateneo-based publications—supporting the arrest of former Davao City Mayor and former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (FPRRD) on the same day.
“Impunity, whatever form it may take, must not go unpunished. In memory of all those who fell victim to fascist violence of the Duterte regime, we stand with the families and communities that continue to bear the scars—pressing forward until justice is served,” the statement reads.
However, the post has since been met with backlash from Duterte supporters.
Tio Moreno, a pro-Duterte influencer, levied attacks against the current editorial board members in a now-deleted Facebook post, accusing the publication of “bullying” those who do not share the same stances with them.
In the past two years, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), a nationwide alliance of campus publications, has reported 206 CPFV cases, with censorship incidents topping the list at 58.
The Campus Press Freedom Bill, which aims to amend the outdated Campus Journalism Act of 1991, has remained in legislative limbo for 13 years, failing to provide sufficient protections for student publications.
READ: 13-year-old Campus Press Freedom Bill at risk of being shelved once again in Congress
