Report by Aliyah Magbitang

Kalasag is the official student publication of College of Arts and Letters. After a few years of silence, Kalasag was revived last November 2025 and is recognized by their home college.

With 24 staffers as of July 2026, Kalasag’s scope of coverage has grown from university events to nationwide. The publication has also been actively covering local pressing issues. “We’re currently trying to be active in covering the displacement of the Pook Malantik Community,” said their outgoing editor-in-chief Abi Malka.

Although overall interest in the publication has grown significantly, particularly within its literary section, the lack of visibility across the student body leaves key operational areas like news and features sections consistently understaffed.

Beyond staff shortage, Kalasag has also expressed grievances over the PHP 200,000 existing on paper from the PHP 3 per-student fee, but remains entirely inaccessible to the publication. All current operational expenses are paid out-of-packet by the editorial board or raised through Income-Generating Projects (IGPs) such as selling stickers and zines.

Financial constraints, however, is not the only obstacle the publication has faced while pursuing critical coverage. Staffers of Kalasag also battled with severe physical and online threats, ranging from on-ground surveillance such as taking photos of their faces and IDs during coverage to persistent harassment from troll accounts and death threats sent to staffer’s personal account.