By MAVERICK AVILA
Bulatlat.com
CEBU CITY — Today’s Carolinians’ displacement is a repression of academic freedom and political rights, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc said.
The Makabayan bloc filed the House Resolution No. 2193 on January 23 condemning the University of San Carlos (USC) administration’s displacement of Today’s Carolinian from its campus office.
The resolution detailed the reported USC administrative directives which affected the operations of Today’s Carolinian. These include the defunding of the student publication, pressuring to seek accreditation under the Office of the Student Formation and Activities (OSFA), barring from coverage of university events, and eviction from the campus office.
The resolution affirmed that the eviction of Today’s Carolinian is not isolated. “Similar actions have been taken against other student organizations and publications at USC, indicating a pattern of repression aimed at curbing free expression and silencing student voices,” the resolution read.
The authors of the resolution called on the USC administration to immediately stop all forms of intimidation and punitive actions against student publications and to reaffirm commitment to academic freedom and students’ rights.
After the flak
For the second time, Bulatlat requested the USC administration for an interview on January 25, particularly to seek its reaction to the House Resolution No. 2193 filed by the Kabataan Partylist, Gabriela Women’s Party, and ACT Teachers Partylist. However, just like the email Bulatlat sent on January 21, there was no response.
In a January 21 report by SunStar Cebu, USC VP for Administration Joan Largo, however, insisted the administrative notice “…is but a prudent use of our limited campus spaces, nothing more.” In the same report, Largo said that Today’s Carolinian has not reached out to the administration.
Deanella Molato, the publication’s managing editor for development, told Bulatlat this was not the case. “In response to her claims, we sent our queries (on the administrative notice) on the afternoon of January 17. This was around the time we also published the report in our office, so we did reach out to her.” Today’s Carolinian Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Alviola earlier told Bulalat that they have sent their query via email to the administration officials, including Largo.
According to Molato, it wasn’t until January 21 when Largo responded. “Her response to us on the matter was what she also said in SunStar’s two reports that were published in that same week. She told us that the reasoning for it was “a prudent use of limited campus spaces” in the university, and that she could be reached out to for student concerns,” Molato told Bulatlat.
On the same day, Today’s Carolinian, joined by student journalists and leaders from the USC and across Cebu, protested the displacement at the Talamban Campus Portal on January 21. The publication launched their signatory petition with the hashtag #MakeTCUnkillable which garnered 412 signatories.
Today’s Carolinian is forming an alliance with most student publications from the USC regarding OSFA’s registration for student publication.
The USC administration on June 10, 2024 committed to reinstate Today’s Carolinian funding and offices provided that they register under the OSFA, “an office notorious for red-taping and arbitrary restrictions that stifle the free expression of student organizations,” the House Resolution No. 2193 read.
For Molato, the “…fight does not end with our office. As we remain steadfast in our duty to serve the Carolinian student body with our journalism, we will continue to raise our calls towards the Administration until we are fully recognized.”
Sustained support
Molato said that the publication received support from USC faculty and alumni, as well as from student publications nationwide, the National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) Cebu chapter, and progressive groups.
The Gateway, official student publication of Central Mindanao University-College of Arts and Sciences, released their solidarity statement whixh stated, “Stripping Today’s Carolinian of essential space erodes its capacity to fulfill its mandate of fearless journalism and advocacy for student rights.”
Amaranth, official student media organization of Visayas State University, also released a statement calling on the USC administration to “…reaffirm its commitment to press freedom, and formally recognize TC (Today’s Carolinian) as the university’s official student publication.”
NUJP Cebu also released a statement urging the USC administration to give Today’s Carolinian their spaces back. “If we must be Witness to the Word, we must be a witness to the truth. Acknowledge Today’s Carolinian as a campus publication.”
John Sitchon, NUJP-Cebu chairperson, told Bulatlat that the union is willing to support Today’s Carolinian should there be a dialogue with the USC administration.
“A number of students, faculty, and alumni in our university too are standing in solidarity with us in the ways that they can, and a resolution authored by Makabayan bloc was also filed in the House of Representatives last January 23,” Molato said.
“[T]he University of San Carlos (USC), a Catholic institution, must uphold integrity, transparency, and social responsibility wherein student media can operate free without fear of censorship or retaliation,” the House Resolution No. 2193 read. (DAA)
