Oldest alliance of college editors to stage nationwide protests February 23

MANILA, Philippines – The College Editors’ Guild of the  Philippines (CEGP) will hold a series of protest around the country on Friday, February 23, to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

The CEGP – the oldest and only alliance of tertiary student publications in the Asia-Pacific region – said the protests seek to condemn the recent attacks of President Rodrigo Duterte on press freedom. 

The latest attack was made on news site Rappler and its Malacañang reporter, Pia Ranada, who was banned from entering the entire Malacañang compound  beginning Thursday, February 22, upon orders of the President himself.

Palace officials initially cited the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to revoke Rappler’s registration, even if the ruling is under appeal and not yet final and executory. Malacañang later said that Duterte imposed the ban as he was “irritated” by Rappler and Ranada’s “antagonistic” reporting.

In a statement, the CEGP said that the ban only proved that Duterte was out to muzzle his critics to suit his interests.

“President Rodrigo Duterte pounces on press freedom even more, beleaguering the already perilous fourth estate and silencing as much as he can while mobilizing his charlatan army of trolls and pseudo-journalists to frame everything in his favor,” it said.

CEGP urged students and concerned Filipinos to join their protests in the following places:

Metro Manila

• 10 am: Decentralized actions in various universities
• 2 pm: Youthquake 2.0, in front of the Far Eastern University in Morayta
• 5 pm: March to Mendiola

According to the organizers, “Youthquake” is the word of the year in 2017, in celebration of the ‘woke’ generation and how the youth movement has been able to expose and oppose corruption and murderous incentives not only of the Duterte administration but also international politicians. 

Baguio City

• 3 pm: UP Baguio
• 4:30 pm: Baguio City Post Office

Central Luzon

• 12 pm: UP Pampanga
• 1 pm: Bulacan State University
• 4 pm: Holy Angel University

Calabarzon

• 10 am: UP Los Banos
• 5 pm: Crossing Calamba

Iloilo

• 11:30 am: UP Visayas Miag-Ao
• 1 pm: Iloilo Provincial Capitol

Tacloban City

• 3 pm: UP Tacloban

Cebu City

• 3 pm: Colon

Northern Mindanao

• 4 pm: MSU Marawi City

Davao City

• 3 pm: UP Mindanao
• 5 pm: Mintal

– Rappler.com