KABATAAN Party-list on Thursday criticized what it described as the harassment of student journalists after the Department of Justice (DOJ) served a subpoena on Jacob Baluyot, a student publication leader, in connection with an alleged case of sedition and inciting to sedition.

Baluyot is the national chairperson of Alyansa ng Kabataang Mamamahayag–Polytechnic University of the Philippines and an associate editor of The Catalyst.

According to Kabataan Party-list, Baluyot received the DOJ subpoena on January 14, following earlier actions by the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

He was previously issued a subpoena and later a petition for indirect contempt on November 26, 2025, in relation to his participation as a journalist covering the September 21 protests against corruption.

House Assistant Minority Leader and Kabataan Representative Atty. Renee Co said the case reflects misplaced government priorities, accusing the administration of targeting young people instead of holding alleged perpetrators of corruption accountable.

“Young people are being charged ahead of the ‘big fish’ and masterminds of corruption,” Co said in a statement. “This administration prioritizes damage control over justice, spending public funds on fabricated cases and attacks against the youth.”

Co, a former campus journalist from the University of the Philippines Diliman, questioned whether exposing alleged wrongdoing through campus publications is now being treated as a criminal offense.

She said the administration is afraid of student journalists, whom she described as a threat to efforts to conceal alleged corruption, including issues surrounding flood control projects.

The lawmaker also claimed that Baluyot was being singled out for naming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his reporting.

“He was targeted because he did not hesitate to name Marcos Jr. in his coverage,” Co said. “That is why more young people are becoming aware and choosing to stand up against a rotten system. If the administration thinks this case will silence or intimidate the youth, they are mistaken.”