Standoff over funds shuts UP publication

By DJ Yap (Inquirer)

FOR TWO months now, there has been little activity on the fourth floor of Vinzons Hall, the student center at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, where the editorial office of the Philippine Collegian is located.

Locked in a standoff with the UP administration over the release of its publication fund, the country's most outspoken student newspaper has suspended press work, as it tries to resolve the fiscal problem.

Staff members and school authorities are arguing about whether the Collegian fund is a public fund, and therefore is subject to the Government Procurement Act, or a student fund under the full control of the editorial board.

As a result of the standoff, the UP administration has withheld the money allocated for the weekly paper's printing costs, angering editors and reporters who launched a campaign demanding the release of the fund.

So far, no one is budging. The last Collegian issue to hit the stands came out in late August, and staff members say they have given up hope of coming out with an issue before the semester ends.

Not just about money
While the debate is primarily about money, Collegian editors and reporters maintain that it is "in essence about silencing" the paper, which has been critical of both the national government and the UP administration.

"From the first issue of this year's term, the Collegian was already very critical of the UP administration and the national government," noted Wendell Gumban, a senior editor.

"What is happening to the Collegian right now is very beneficial to the administration and Malaca�ang; so to us, it seems to be an indirect way of repressing the paper," he said.

This view was disputed in an open letter to the UP community by Diliman chancellor Sergio Cao, who said the Collegian "has never been under siege."

"...This UP Diliman Administration has not done anything to threaten the independence of the Collegian as to what they can write about and how they write it," he said.

He said the Collegian funds were public funds and should be subject to government budgeting, accounting and auditing rules.

"In particular, in the matter of the choice of printing press for the Collegian, the choice must be subject to the provisions of the new government procurement law that prescribes bidding," he said.

Choice of printing press
Cao said he had met with representatives of the paper in hopes of resolving the matter, but the editors were "adamant about not undergoing this kind of government bidding procedure."

In a text message to the Inquirer, Cao said: "I have actually offered the Collegian a way to be financially independent: They collect the fees themselves so they don't become public funds. They refused."

But Gumban insisted that the issue was no longer about a simple disagreement over the nature of the Collegian funds.

"The administration says it's just a policy issue, but by forcing us to submit to the Government Procurement Act, they are withholding our fund, and in effect, the lifeblood of the paper," he said.

He said the editorial board would not allow the UP administration to conduct a bidding among printing presses, standard policy for government funds under Republic Act No. 9184, precisely because Collegian funds were not public funds.

Gumban said the staff was not willing to give in, particularly on the choice of printing press, in order to protect the editorial board's fiscal autonomy as mandated by the Campus Journalism Act.

"If we give in, it would set a dangerous precedent. It's better to fight for our principles at this stage, so we won't be compromised in the future," he said.

Repercussions
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), which has been closely watching the developments, said it was siding with the Collegian on the issue.

"In our view, the objective of the administration is to silence the Collegian. They may say that they are only implementing the law, but their actions are obviously colored by such an objective," said CEGP president Jose Cosido.

He said the Collegian's woes might have repercussions on other campus publications throughout the country, considering its long and proud history.