The historic Carillon tower of University of the Philippines once again broke its silence, this time in solidarity with thousands of workers of ABS-CBN and doing it for press freedom.

The bells tolled at exactly 6 p.m., Saturday, the same time ABS-CBN’s flagship newscast TV Patrol went on air.

PAKINGGAN: Muling pagkalembang alas-7 ng gabi ng UP Carillon sa tunog ng ABS-CBN station ID. pic.twitter.com/f3ZUhqBERb

— jeff hernaez 🇵🇭 (@jeffreyhernaez) July 18, 2020

For a whole minute, the tower’s bells sounded the iconic 6 notes of ABS-CBN’s station ID, followed by a continuous tolling, and ended again with the familiar notes.

This is not the first time the UP Community expressed solidarity with the Kapamilya network.

When the National Telecommunications Commission ordered the network to stop its operations, the university expressed its dissent through the 46 bronze bells of the Carillon.

The tower, designed by National Artist for Architecture Juan Nakpil, for years has served as the university’s symbol of solidarity with different sectors.

In 2018, the Carillon bells tolled to condemn the ouster of then Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

When the remains of Ferdinand Marcos were buried at Libingan ng Mga Bayani, the university also expressed its dissent through the historic tower.

Now, the UP Carillon tower serves as a watchtower for press freedom and justice, for the thousands of ABS-CBN employees and those affected by the network’s shutdown. -- Jeff Hernaez, ABS-CBN News