TNP recognition codified, push for funding continues

Since its establishment in December 1978, Tinig ng Plaridel (TNP), the student publication of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC), has been pivotal in covering issues and shaping discourse within the college, university and the nation.

Despite its more than 45 years of service, TNP’s recognition has only been codified on paper by the CMC administration this October 2024. This comes after a week-long referendum that saw more than half of the CMC student population voting in favor of TNP’s official status, ratifying the constitution and budget proposal last May.

For the longest time, TNP has been recognized by constituents of the college only “in spirit,” as there are no formal documents legitimizing its official status. 

Moreover, there are no definite systems in place for the recognition process of publications, especially college-wide publications, unlike accreditation procedures for student organizations.

With this, previous editors had to research ways to prove TNP’s legitimacy by looking at how other publications across the UP System got recognized, documenting its own history, and securing support from relevant institutions within and outside the university.

Ultimately, the codification of TNP’s recognition is a culmination of all the efforts made by its previous editors, alumni, and the entire CMC student body that voted for their home student publication.

2017

October 2, 2017:  All CMC student organizations withdrew their registration documents in protest against the Faculty-Student Relations Committee (FSRC) manual. 

The FSRC Manual required CMC-based organizations to have a minimum of 15 members, capped recognition to only 16 formations and imposed fees to rent facilities and equipment. 

Further, the said manual did not have clear guidelines for recognizing a student publication, leading TNP to opt out of the process.

Since then, the publication has not undergone any recognition process until it can be registered as a student publication.

Related: Medyo mapagpalaya: A “lesson” on hypocrisy and assertion

2018 – 2020

Before the free tuition law was introduced in 2017, TNP was getting its funds from donations and fees collected from students during enrollment. The total collection was reportedly being shared in half with the CMC Student Council.

However, this stopped after former President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Universal Tertiary Education Act, which prohibits state universities and colleges from collecting matriculation and other school fees.

Read: Lack of funding after free tuition law paralyzes student publications

In recent years, TNP’s operations are sustained by donations from its alumni and monetary rewards from journalism competitions.

2021

September 17, 2021: TNP’s constitution has been ratified for the first time, following an absolute majority vote among its active and current staffers. 

Previous editors of the publication launched this initiative after consulting with UP student publications Sinag of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and Kalasag of the College of Arts and Letters, which reportedly gained recognition after the approval of their respective constitutions.

2022

May 19, 2022: After a series of consultations with the CMC administration, TNP editors sent an email to Dean Ernan Paragas requesting the publication’s official recognition. This included endorsement and support letters from key offices and alliances like the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Office of Student Projects and Activities, College Editor’s Guild of the Philippines and UP Solidaridad.

September 2022: The editorial board of the publication for the new academic year applied for an official UP mail, which required endorsement from the “head of the unit,” as per the University Computer Center’s guidelines.

Since TNP did not have an adviser for the sake of editorial independence, the publication relied on the endorsement of CMC Dean Paragas. 

December 2022: Although Paragas initially endorsed their publication, former Editor-in-Chief Jason Sigales said the dean changed his mind because there was “no official document tying TNP with the college.” 

2023

April 2023: After the publication’s coverage of the UP Diliman chancellor selection, a certain blogger falsely accused TNP of “obstructing justice,” consequently subjecting the publication to online attacks and harassment.

This security concern prompted the editorial board to follow up with the CMC administration on the status of their UP mail request and recognition.

November 23, 2023:  Current and previous editors formed an ad hoc committee that will focus on matters related to TNP’s recognition process.

Among the first tasks of the committee was to redo their research on how other publications across the UP System were recognized in their respective college and units.

December 5, 2023: The ad hoc committee started to gather material evidence of TNP’s 45-year history by sourcing its previous print issues and releases from the University Archives. The committee was able to acquire copies of TNP’s pages as early as 1979, when Maskom was still an institute.

Moreover, the editors also interviewed former editors of the publication to learn more about how TNP’s recognition was treated during their respective terms.

2024

January to May 2024: The current editorial board deemed it necessary to propose amendments to TNP’s constitution as it did not originally include provisions on budget management if ever the publication were to receive funding. 

The editors also took the chance to revisit other limiting and lacking provisions of the constitution. The proposed amendments were then opened to the entire newsroom for comments, questions and recommendations.

May 24, 2024: After responding to the concerns of some staffers regarding certain proposed amendments, the constitution was ratified by a simple majority of the newsroom’s active staffers.

The constitution served as the document detailing the operations, functions, and overall responsibilities of TNP as CMC’s official student publication.

May 27, 2024: TNP held a public forum at the CMC auditorium to reintroduce the publication and open a week-long referendum as part of its recognition process.

The referendum was decided in the spirit of Sec. 21(b) of the UP Charter of 2008, stating that there should be a student publication established in every constituent unit and college subject to “due and comprehensive consultation with the students.”

The referendum asked all undergraduate and graduate students of CMC whether they approve of TNP’s ratified constitution, its proposed P100 publication fee (to be collected as part of their free tuition), and its status as the college’s official student publication.

While the referendum was ongoing, TNP also published testimonies from its former staffers and editors, attesting to how the publication helped them in becoming media practitioners.

June 5, 2024:  After more than a week, the referendum closed with 55.24% of the CMC student population participating in the voting process. The majority of the students voted in favor of all three points of the referendum.

The votes are as follows:

  • Do you approve of the ratified Constitution of TNP?
    • Yes – 509 (55.03% of the population)          No – 2
  • Do you agree that TNP should have a publication fee of PhP 100 per semester, to be collected as part of every student’s tuition?
    • Yes – 492 (53.19% of the population)         No  – 19
  • Do you recognize TNP as the official student publication of the College of Mass Communication?
    • Yes – 511 (55.24% of the population)         No – 0

June 13, 2024: The ad hoc committee, together with representatives from the CMC Student Council and UP Solidaridad, met with the college administration to discuss the results of the referendum and the consequent steps moving forward.

July 2024: Following recommendations from the meeting, the ad hoc committee drafted a document that will officialize the recognition of TNP as CMC’s student publication. It went through a series of revisions to detail the publication’s demands and responsibilities to the college.

August 2, 2024: When all concerns and suggestions have been exhausted, the ad hoc committee sent the revised and final recognition document to the college administration.

September 30, 2024: Dean Paragas presented the recognition document during the faculty assembly of the college. Since there were no objections, the publication’s recognition has been duly codified.

The resolution titled, “Recognizing Tinig ng Plaridel as the Official Student Publication of the UP College of Mass Communication” codifies the votes of the CMC students from the referendum and the areas for collaboration between TNP and the college administration.

October 12, 2024: Current and previous members of TNP gathered at the college for the official signing of the recognition document.

Moving forward, TNP will assert proper funding from the Board of Regents — the highest decision-making body in the UP system — authorized to allocate funds for offices and institutions in the university.