Kabataan Partylist appeals for passage of campus press freedom bill
Kabataan Partylist Representative Sarah Elago refiled on Thursday the Campus Press Freedom (CPF) bill, which pursues to replace Republic Act 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 (CJA) with a sincere campus press freedom law.
According to the official website of Kabataan Partylist, the CPF is being refiled in light of the intensifying attacks against campus publications in recent months.
“The student publication is the tangible expression of press freedom in campus. Through it, students are able to practice their rights to freedom of expression and information, rights that are protected by the 1987 Constitution…” Elago said in a statement.
Elago cited the data from the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, which revealed more than 800 cases of campus press freedom violations under the Aquino administration.
The violations are of numerous forms of censorship, threat and harassment, suppression of publication funds, suspension and expulsion of student journalists and even filing of libel charges.
Elago said many school administrations are suppressing the campus press because of the inconsistency of the Campus Journalism Act
The Philippine Collegian, the official publication of University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, had one of the latest cases involved in a predicament due to the UP administration’s complicated obtaining processes resulting to an inability of printing its first issue for school year 2016-2017.
The provisions of the refiled Campus Press Freedom Bill incorporate the obligatory establishment of student publications in all levels, independence from any form of administrative intercession on funds, selection of staffers, and the content of articles.
HB 1493 or the Campus Press Freedom Bill was introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond Palatino to protect the rights of student journalists and promote responsible journalism.###
