Cebu Press Freedom Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: September 21, 2024

Press has always played an important role in the political life of the Philippines. For example, during the late Spanish colonial era, nationalistic and patriotic organizations such as the Katipunan and La Solidaridad published newspapers to spread their ideas among Filipinos. This trend continued during the American colonization of the Philippines. During World War II, most Filipino publications were closed, and those that remained open were heavily censored by the Japanese occupiers and used as propaganda vehicle.

After World War II and the independence of the Philippines, Philippine press was widely regarded as the freest in Asia; the post-war period is commonly thought to have been the “golden age of Philippine journalism”. Sadly, everything started to change when Ferdinand Marcos began his rise to power.

In the early hours of September 23, 1972, Marcos announced martial law and promptly shut down most of the country’s media, including television stations, radio stations, newspapers, and magazines, as well as arrested a number of prominent reporters, columnists, publishers, and media owners. Only media owned by Marcos’s close associates were allowed to publish. Even though some of the press was eventually allowed to resume publishing, the media was heavily regulated and censored throughout the 14-year Marcos dictatorship.

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, ratified after the overthrow of Marcos, reinstated freedom of speech and freedom of press. Even though the situation has definitely changed for the better compared to the Marcos era, the government of the Philippines has been criticized for subjecting journalists to surveillance and harassment, especially during the tenure of President Rodrigo Duterte, so there is still a long way to go.

The week including September 21 has been observed as Cebu Press Freedom Week every year for a long time. The date of September 21 is symbolic for the Philippine society because on this day in 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 that formally declared martial law in the Philippines. In 2015, September 21 was officially designated as Cebu Press Freedom Day in the province of Cebu.

Cebu Press Freedom Day was created to celebrate the importance of press freedom and its protection, reaffirm media responsibility, and highlight the importance of adhering to journalism ethics and standards. The entire Cebu Press Freedom Week is filled with various professional events such as forums, workshops, conferences, ceremonies honoring outstanding journalists, and more.

Cebu Pres Freedom Day is not the only observance in the Philippines dedicated to press freedom. Similar observances include National Press Freedom Day, celebrated on August 30 to commemorate the birthday of renowned Filipino journalist Marcelo H. del Pilar, and National Campus Press Freedom Day, observed on July 25 in honor of the founding anniversary of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP).