UST hit over 'photo censorship'

MANILA, Philippines: The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) hit out at the administration of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), after its Office of Student Affairs (OSA) on Friday ordered its digital media organization, TomasinoWeb, to take down a photo of two students from the College of Information and Computing Sciences (CICS) wearing a “Type B” uniform entering a convenience store.

UST hit over ‘photo censorship’

On Friday, the UST-OSA advised the removal of the photo because of “public ridicule.”

In a statement on Monday, the NUJP alled the UST administration’s reaction as “elitist.”

“Any imposed takedown, especially over an imagined slight and not because of a factual or ethical lapse, erodes press freedom and the independence of the press,” it said. “The UST administration’s reaction to a harmless photograph exposes its elitist stance.”

“The Catholic school should instead uphold the dignity of work and honor the workers’ contributions to Philippine society,” it added. “Unfortunately, this instance of censorship is just the latest and most high profile in the campus press, which has faced intimidation, repression and lack of financial support in campuses across the Philippines.”

The NUJP later called for the “same respect and protection of press freedom” for campus journalists.

After the photo was taken down, over the weekend, TomasinoWeb’s adviser, journalism instructor and newspaper editor Leo Laparan 2nd resigned, citing censorship.

The removal of the photo garnered criticism at UST’s OSA.

“A harmless photo like this was enough cause to repress an independent campus media organization, bypassing the org’s adviser and threatening to sanction the org if the photo wasn’t taken down,” wrote Liam Recacho, a UST journalism student, on Facebook.

Also on Monday, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) said the UST-OSA “crossed the line” and called on the UST-OSA and the university’s administration to be held accountable over their “ill-judged decisions.”

“UST-OSA crossed the line with its repressive takedown order against a satirical TomasinoWeb article. It attacks freedom of expression for self preservation, and compromises campus press freedom for inappropriate resolution of student issues,” the CEGP, through its spokesman, Brell Lacerna, wrote.

“These spate of actions are not just forms of censorship, but rather an attack to the campus publication’s integrity and an affront to discourse over campus matters. This also insults students’ capacity to express disappointment and clamor answers for lingering institutional concerns. Moreso, the publication has no obligation to apologize for its reportage and the public’s interpretation of its subject,” they added. “We then call upon all campus publications, student journalists, and press freedom advocates to stand with and beside TomasinoWeb in its assertion of its right to publish and campus press freedom. TomWeb must not be silenced in fair delivery of its duties to the greater Thomasian community.”

TomasinoWeb’s social media operations have been on hold since Monday, after the resignation of its adviser.

“In view of the resignation of our organization adviser, and following the protocol of the Office for Student Affairs, our publication on ALL social media platforms will be on hold until further notice,” the organization wrote on Monday.

TomasinoWeb, in a statement on Friday, confirmed that “some members” of the UST administration “raised concerns” on the photo but apologized after acknowledging it “caused a stir online” and said they never intended to cause any harm.

“The organization was told that the photo has become a source of public ridicule toward CICS students, their college, and the University as a whole due to the supposed association of the CICS uniform with the convenience store’s employee uniforms,” the statement wrote.