Campus Journalists Push Press Freedom Agenda Ahead of Elections

By Juliane Judilla

Hundreds of campus journalists nationwide have signed the 2025 Campus Press Electoral Agenda (CPEA), highlighting press freedom issues they want addressed as election day nears.

Spearheaded by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), the country’s oldest and largest alliance of student publications, the 10-point platform was developed through nationwide consultations.

According to CEGP, the demands outlined are not merely appeals but imperatives for candidates who claim to uphold democracy and represent the youth.

The CPEA includes calls for reforms such as ending campus press freedom violations, passing the Campus Press Freedom Bill and the Student Rights and Welfare Bill, and freeing Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a former student journalist arrested during the Duterte administration.

The 10-point Campus Press Electoral Agenda includes:

1. Address and end campus press freedom violations.
2. Establish and revive student publications.
3. Secure publication autonomy and mandatory funding.
4. Pass the Campus Press Freedom Bill.
5. Pass the Student Rights and Welfare Bill.
6. Fight disinformation and red-tagging.
7. Fund education and media literacy.
8. Resist state censorship and decriminalize libel.
9. Repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act and abolish the NTF-ELCAC.
10. Free Frenchie Mae Cumpio and end impunity.

“We do not stand alone,” said CEGP spokesperson Brell Lacerna.

“Hundreds of student publications from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao have united under this call,” Lacerna added.

“Together, we challenge electoral hopefuls to take a stand: Will you defend or destroy press freedom and the future the Filipino youth deserves?”

CEGP also urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the general public to uphold clean, honest, and peaceful elections.

They stressed the importance of empowering—not sidelining—the youth and the campus press.

“The campus press will not be silenced,” Lacerna said.

“We are watching, reporting, resisting—and we will remember those who stood with us and those who sought to silence us.”

Kabataan Party-list, represented by first nominee and former student journalist Atty. Renee Co, accepted the CPEA and pledged support for the platform.

Co reaffirmed the need to pass the Campus Press Freedom Bill, originally filed in 2011 by then-Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino and former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, who also served as CEGP national president.

“We will carry and assert the Campus Press Freedom Bill to put an end to the attacks on campus journalists across the country,” Co said.

CEGP said it is still accepting signatures from student publications nationwide until polls open on May 12.