Campus press freedom was never truly free

This July 25, 2026, National Campus Press Freedom Day is celebrated. Yet for many school publications, freedom is still easier to celebrate than to practice. 

Through Republic Act (RA) 11440 or the National Campus Press Freedom Day Act, the freedom of the campus press is both protected and honored, as an institution in the society that strive to defend the interest and welfare of the Filipino people. 

But outside the ceremony, how free is a press that is punished for being true?

Not so free after all

In 2023, An Lantawan, Leyte Normal University’s (LNU)campus publication, posted photos of a political rally where garbage can be seen. It was forced to undergo accreditation where posts will be published without their own logo. But an accreditation is not even required for a publication.

Yet this is seen in Primum as well, the student publication of the University of Mindanao.  A writer posted a political allegory from Sara Duterte’s point of view, and two school officials ordered the piece to be taken down for being ‘too political.’

In 2024, University of Santo Tomas’s TomasinoWeb was ordered to delete a photo of students in uniform who were entering a convenience store as it caused ‘public ridicule.’ TomasinoWeb’s advisor resigned, protesting that it was censorship. And the Office of Student Affairs halted the publication’s operations, compromising the exercise of editorial independence.

Though, these incidents only reveal a small portion of the bigger picture, especially if you track it from the moment that the National Campus Press Freedom Day Act was signed. 

In August 2019, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed RA 11440 that allowed the celebration to take place. Yet ironically, it was his administration where both the media and the press were suppressed.

From June 20 2016 to December 5, 2019, 154 attacks and threats against the news media were recorded:

• Luzon: 99
• Visayas: 18
• Mindanao: 37

Of the 154 cases, at least 69 are related to state agents as the alleged perpetrators. These numbers show not just how many attacks happened, but also who carried them out. The numbers also broke down the category of incident by numbers, with the following as the most worrisome: 

• 28 incidents of intimidation
• 20 online harassment
• 12 threats via text messages
• 12 libel cases
• 10 website attacks
• 8 slay attempts
• 8 journalists barred from coverage

But even with Duterte out of the picture, press freedom is barely out of reach under President Ferdinand Marcos. Jr. He promised that he would ‘work closely’ with news media, but some journalists were harassed under him. If there were 128 logged attacks against under Duterte,  184 cases were recorded after Marcos shortly followed.

Of the 184 cases, 78 involved state agents again. And 11 of the 78 were officials of the previous administration who still continued their intimidation. 

Yet threats to genuine service for campus journalism do not end with repression. Beyond intimidation, many face a different picture: contest journalism.

Winner takes it all

In each press conference, there are winners and losers. Yet it is as if campus journalism was measured by medals and praise alone.

With the Department of Education’s (DepEd) 2023 memorandum of having only one champion to advance to nationals, the final gate to the national stage has become the ‘main goal’ instead of serving the communities that journalism was meant to serve.

Mainly, campus journalism serve as the voice of the student body through writing and coverage.But when success in journalism is measured by trophies instead of impact, that voice risks being silenced. 

And when journalism is reduced to a mere opportunity just to compete, it defeats the sacrifices of those who risked and lost their lives to defend the freedom to report.

One day isn’t enough

Throughout the years, from when press freedom was slowly built after being broken down in the Marcos regime, repression, threats, and attacks have continued to test the freedom that journalists are still fighting for today. The fight does not end at competitions or simply remembering it.

After all, celebrating National Campus Press Freedom Day may happen only once a year but press freedom cannot exist just for one day.