TIMELINE: Campus press repression in LPU

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's alma mater has impeded the operations of its student publication by withholding its fund without prior notice.

INTRAMUROS, Philippines — The LPU Independent Sentinel, official student publication of LPU Manila, is facing reorganization as university officials accused the student paper of misusing their funds.

The quality of writing, they argued, was not worth the publication fee being collected from the students. (READ: Debunking the administration's justifications for "changing" The Sentinel)

Have a look at the chain of events that led to the October 6 rally at the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU).

All photos here are from the LPU Independent Sentinel

APRIL TO JULY

April 2017 - Outgoing Editor-in-Chief Jessica Jane Sy told the Student Affairs Office (SAO) that The LPU Independent Sentinel would be posting about the application process for the editorial board for the next academic year. 

April 25 - Sy asked SAO about the possible dates of the editorial exam. She was told to follow-up the concern once the commencement exercises were held. She was also informed that a comprehensive exam for all would be conducted. This is a violation of The Sentinel's constitution wherein the existing staffers do not need to take the exam every year but must face a panel interview.

April 28 – The Sentinel encouraged all college students to apply and be a part of the editorial board for A.Y. 2017-2018.

Screenshot taken from The Sentinel's invitation video

May 18 – Dean Jayson Barlan of the Student Affairs Office (SAO) said that the editorial board exam would ensue at the start of the first semester of A.Y. 2017-2018. Info from other sources said that it would be held on the third week of July.

July 24 – First day of classes for AY 2017-2018.

July 26 – The Sentinel, in an investigation, discovers that publication fees were not collected in all colleges.

AUGUST

August 16 – The oath taking of all recognized student organization officers took place. The LPU Independent Sentinel did not receive an invitation to attend the event.

• The Sentinel sent a letter of inquiry to the administration to know about its status.

August 19 – Dean Barlan has set a meeting with The Sentinel either Tuesday (Aug 22) or Wednesday (Aug 23), but had to reschedule it because the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) Conrado Iñigo Jr. was not available that week.

August 24 – The Sentinel went to SAO to follow up on their letter of inquiry, but Dean Barlan instead held an informal meeting and laid down the reasons for "reorganizing" The Sentinel.

August 29 – The Sentinel expressed their desire to have a formal dialogue with the president and VPAA, but Dean Barlan said that what was discussed on August 24 was what VPAA would have said to The Sentinel.

• The Executive Office (EO) and SAO were yet to discuss about the matter, and promised to send a feedback to The Sentinel after their meeting.

SEPTEMBER

September 6 – The Sentinel received a notice from Lyceum Central Student Government (LYCESGO) President Patrick Sarsalejo that the SAO will close down its office later that week. SAO's plan did not materialize.

September 11 – The Sentinel received intel that LPU also plans to expand the admin-owned annual magazine, "The Tower," and include a Student's Page in order to dodge CHED policies.

• VPAA said that he is still waiting for SAO's "final recommendation" on the matter. He disclosed that it was Dean Barlan who made the recommendation to revamp The Sentinel.

September 13 – Dean Barlan disclosed that the management prefers not to continue any dialogue with The Sentinel on the pretense that Barlan already discussed everything that needed to be discussed during his last interaction with The Sentinel on August 24.

September 14 – Sarsalejo and other LYCESGO officers voted if they would support The Sentinel or not. According to an insider report, 3 officers voted yes and 2 voted no. Sarsalejo promised to release a statement but it did not materialize.

• The Sentinel informs the students about the admin's vague plan to reorganize it. (READ: Sentinel in limbo as admin vaguely plans to ‘change’ publication)

• The #DefendTheSentinel was launched by students and alumni concerned with the crisis threatening The Sentinel's independence.

September 20 – Cedric Lee, former LYCESGO President (2014-2015), creates a petition at Change.org to #BringBackTheSentinel.

September 21 - LPU English Club is the first student organization who stood up for The Sentinel.

September 24 – LYCESGO claimed to have exerted effort in scheduling a meeting with Dean Barlan and VPAA for The Sentinel, to be held on Tuesday (Sep 26) or Wednesday (Sep 27).

September 25 – The administration had a meeting with the Council of Presidents (COP), detailing matters about the class suspension and The Sentinel, and expressing that their decision to reorganize the student publication is final.

September 26 – Sarsalejo told The Sentinel that the admin would hold the open dialogue on the same day at 10:00 p.m. After several mentions of the questionable schedule, he later apologized and said that the meeting would commence in the morning.

• The Sentinel sent another letter to the Executive Office to continue the dialogue with the presence of The Sentinel's technical advisers, College Student Governments (CSG), LYCESGO, and the presidents of student organizations. The administration is admonished to respond on or before September 30.
  
  

• Various student publications around Metro Manila, including the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), expressed their support for The Sentinel.

September 29 - As of 10:40 a.m., the Executive Office has no response to the letter sent by The Sentinel.

• LPU Manila announced the qualifying exams for the "student publication" to be held on October 4. They did not mention The LPU Independent Sentinel.

September 30 – A "Naruto Run" event was scheduled for October 4 to boycott LPU's qualifying exams for student publication.

• The Sentinel has received an intel regarding the administration's defense on its case. They accused the publication of not disclosing how the budget was spent, and that the quality of writing was not enough given that The Sentinel had been circulated nationwide. Former Editor-in-Chief Jessica Jane Sy has posted in her Facebook account a response to LPU's justifications.

OCTOBER

October 1 – LYCESGO has released its official statement in support of The Sentinel, urging the LPU administration to continue the open dialogue and stop campus press repression. LPU has not formally announced their allegations, but sister political parties PAMANA and Independiente were able to release statements that contained information about the admin's accusation of misuse of funds.

October 2 – After receiving intel that the admin is trying to convince student leaders to take their side, The Sentinel decided to publish fact-check infographics to disprove any accusations that LPU has used in their covert meetings.

October 3 – A press conference was held at University of the Philippines – Diliman to inform media companies of the various campus press repressions occurring in academic institutions.

• An alumnus belonging to The Sentinel has persuaded Dean Barlan to face the student paper and explain his recent actions.

October 4 – The meeting was attended by CEGP and student leaders coming from the LPU Debate Society, College of International Relations (CIR) student government, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) student government, College of Business Administration (CBA) student government, LPU LIKHA, and the president of LYCESGO. The meeting lasted from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

• The Sentinel announced that it will submit a resolution to the LPU administration to secure the continuation of the independent student paper's operations.

October 5 - SAO has ordered the Security Office to disallow The Sentinel from borrowing the key to their publication office. The Security Office confirmed that the order was given to them yesterday afternoon.

October 6 - CEGP, along with alumni members of The Sentinel, held a solidarity protest in front of the university to raise awareness amongst the studentry. First-hand accounts reported that the security was ordered to give violation slips to students wearing a black ribbon, and to take photos of protesters and other students supporting the assembly.

©The Pink Merman