As a student leader, I have always given premium to the autonomy that student institutions should exercise. These institutions not only provide us venues to learn things that transcend the four walls of our classrooms, but also, serve as an avenue to advance our calls and protect our welfare.
It is alarming that several articles of the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Publication of the UPLB Perspective, as approved by the Board of Regents in its 891st meeting in 1977, do not only give the administration the chance to intervene with the affairs of UPLB’s student publication but worse, the opportunity to suspend the publication depending on the call of the UPLB Chancellor.
The Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Publication of the UPLB Perspective was created in the Martial Law regime and was meant to be repressive towards the part of the students. The full interference of the administration was designed for the purpose of preventing the editorial board from gravely criticizing the Marcos administration.
The following are the problematic articles of the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Publication of the UPLB Perspective:
Article 3. The publication of the UPLB PERSPECTIVE shall be governed by these rules and by such regulations as may be promulgated by the Chancellor to implement these rules.
This provision of the rules and regulations of the UPLB Perspective gives the Chancellor the capacity to intervene in the affairs of the said publication by creating rules that the editorial board will be required to adhere. Moreover, the chancellor may opt to execute any regulation as he or she may desire without the approval or even consulting the editorial board.
Article 4. (a) The editor of the UPLB Perspective shall be chosen by a Committee composed of three faculty members and two student representatives appointed by the Chancellor. The faculty members shall be chosen by the Chancellor from among nominees recommended by the Deans of all colleges and Institutes at the UPLB. The student representatives shall be chosen by the Chancellor from at least six (6) nominees named by the UPLB PERSPECTIVE staff and the Katawang Tagapag-ugnay ng Mag-aaral (KTM) or the central student organization that may hereafter be authotized. The committee shall conduct and score the editorial examination to determine the journalistic and leadership abilities of each candidate.
How is it that in a committee who will select the editor-in-chief (EIC) of a student publication, the student representatives are outnumbered by faculty members? And to add, the fact that the Chancellor will be the one to select the composition of the EIC Examination Committee gives the administration the advantage to choose people who are sympathetic towards them even if the nominations will come from all the deans, current editorial board, and the University Student Council.
Article 7. (b) The editor shall be appointed by the Chancellor after the receipt of the result and recommendations of the editorial examination committee.
The above provision gives the Chancellor the power to appoint the EIC of the UPLB Perspective which is a clear intervention on the affairs of the publication. The Chancellor is not necessarily required to appoint the recommended individual as forwarded by the examination committee since it is just a mere recommendation and the final decision on who will sit as the EIC remains on him.
Article 12. The Chancellor may suspend the publication of the UPLB PERSPECTIVE for culpable violation of relevant decrees and orders issued under Martial Law, or of the Guidelines for the University of the Philippines under Martial Law adopted by this Board of Regents at its 825th meeting on October 25, 1972, or of these rules and regulations governing the publication of the UPLB PERSPECTIVE.
Article 12 authorizes the Chancellor to suspend the student publication if he finds or interprets any violation of the currently used rules and regulations of the UPLB Perspective or any rule the Chancellor may have opted to promulgate as provided by Article 3 of the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Publication of the UPLB Perspective.
Given these administration intervention prone provisions, the revision of the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Publication of the UPLB Perspective should be placed in top consideration.
As stated in University of the Philippines Charter of 2008:
Sec 21. (b) Subject to due and comprehensive consultation with the students, there shall be a student publication established in every constituent unit and college to be funded by student fees. Freedom of expression and autonomy in all matters of editorial policy shall be guaranteed especially in the selection of its editors and staff.
The UP Charter gives importance to the autonomy of the student institutions in the University of the Philippines system and even puts emphasis on the student publication’s selection of its editor and staff.
Furthermore, the UP Charter states:
Sec 30. Repealing Clause.- Act No. 1870, as amended, and all laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations or other issuances or parts inconsistent with the provisions of the Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
The current rules and regulations governing the publication of the UPLB Perspective are not only inconsistent with the highest law governing the UP system but further, do not serve the interest towards the protection of the autonomy of the student publication. Not acting towards the modification of the rules of UPLB perspective may lead to the possible intervention of the administration in our student publication.
Contrary to Article 3, the Chancellor should have no power to create rules that the editorial board will be compelled to follow. The editorial board should come up with rules and regulations that will govern the student publication subsequent to comprehensive consultation with the students. These rules must ensure the impartial and critical nature of the UPLB Student Publication. Equal treatment to all students, groups and offices should be ensured by giving them the right to air their side on different matters specially, in response to criticisms by the student publication.
Articles 4a and 7b both involve the selection of an individual rightful to take the highest post in the UPLB Perspective’s editorial board. It is just proper that there should be less to none administrative or faculty involvement in the process. For example, the selection of the sole representative of the students to the Board of Regents only calls for Student Councils as student representatives and does not involve any administration or government personnel. The Chancellor’s participation in the installment of the UPLB University Student Council officers is only to administer the oath and not to have the final say on who to take the USC posts. A system that will ensure maximum student participation and less administration intervention should be created.
The Chancellor’s ability to suspend the student publication should be scrapped and instead, a due process that will ensure the accountability of the UPLB Perspective editorial board should be created. Responsible journalism must be first and foremost practiced and measures of accountability in the use of the student publication funds should be crafted.
Towards this end, I call the UPLB students to understand the consequence of not responding to the need of revising the current rules and regulations used by the UPLB Perspective. We have to be proactive by modifying the current rules and not just wait for conflict to come into surface.
As a university, let us reaffirm our support to the UPLB Perspective by cooperating in the revision of the rules and regulations and preserve its autonomy from possible administrative interference. For the local colleges, as supported by Section 21. b of the UP Charter, they may decide to establish a college based publication to strengthen their identity.
The call will be tedious but in order to protect the autonomy of our Student Publication, let us be the generation of UPLB students who will take the first step in creating the rules and regulations of a student publication free from administration intervention.
