The Lasallian in the face of repression: A history of Lasallian student publications during martial law (1972-1986)

The period between the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and the end of the Marcos Regime in 1986 marked a dark time for journalism and its practitioners. Many newspaper and broadcast outlets were seized and shut down by the administration. Whatever outlets remained were used as mouthpieces for the administration’s agenda. The news was sanitized and censored. Nevertheless, there were those who worked to resist the regime, circumvent the censorship, and publish dissenting voices. They would be known as the alternative press or the “mosquito press,” and included important publications such as WeForum, its successor Ang Pahayagang Malaya, or Veritas. However, little is known about how student publications conducted themselves during this time period. The LaSallian of De La Salle College (and later University) is one such publication. Through the analysis of articles and oral history, this study aims to detail its reportage, how it navigated the terrain of censorship during the Marcos regime, and how student publications would emerge as part of the alternate press in the 1980s