Challenge to the dominant press

THE PHILIPPINES has a long alternative press tradition that goes back to the reform and revolutionary movements of the late 19th century—from Marcelo H. Del Pilar’s Diariong Tagalog, to La Solidaridad, Kalayaan, El Heraldo de la Revolucion, and El Renacimiento. In contrast to the dominant press—conventionally and wrongly referred to as the “mainstream press”—controlled by narrow political and economic interests, the alternative press has not only been free of such entanglements. It has also been committed to the historic struggles for Philippine independence, human rights, and social and political change.