ALUMNI have called on the leadership of the UST Alumni Association to recall the government service award given to Palace Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson.
Akbayan Rep. and alumnus Tom Villarin said he was returning the government service award given to him during the grand alumni homecoming in protest of Uson’s award.
“I am returning the Thomasian in Government Service Award given to me last January 21 by the UST Alumni Association because I refuse to buy into their recent justification for awarding Mocha Uson that one only needed to be a graduate of our Alma Mater, and be part of government. If that were true, then all Thomasian civil servants should have also been given such an award,” the statement read.
Villarin said Uson’s actions went against Thomasian values such as “truth in charity” and public accountability and transparency in government.
“Uson is a purveyor of fake news, an unrepentant violator of ethical standards in journalism, and a free-flowing fountain of foul language and obscenity. Indeed, she has corrupted the values that Thomasians hold dear,” the statement read.
Dr. Carmencita Reodica, former secretary of health and an awardee of The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni in 1997, said she would return the plaque given to her by the alumni association because it has already “lost its meaning and significance,” a report from Inquirer.net read.
Alvin Realuyo, an acclaimed Thomasian writer and alumnus, also expressed his intention to return the award he had received from the University in 2003 as a protest against Uson’s recognition.
In an email to the Varsitarian, Crispin Maslog, a former journalist and professor of communication, expressed his intention to return his diplomas and Philosophy and Letters Alumni Award to the University.
“I am refusing my award to show my objection to the award to Mocha who is the champion of fake news and character assassination on the Internet… Pwede ba isauli ko ang aking mga diplomas?” Maslog said.
Gigi Bautista-Rapadas, a member of a Bautista family that received the “Thomasian Family of the Year” award in 1975, urged the alumni board to “rescind the award or resign,” in a statement on Facebook.
Bautista-Rapadas said the recognition for Uson “disgusted” and “pained” their family.“What has she done to deserve the award? More pointedly, what has she done to NOT deserve the award? This second question will yield a kilometric list of reasons why she should not have been given the award,” Bautista-Rapadas said.
Calls to revoke the award
In a Facebook post on Monday, an account named “Artletsalumni Ust” circulated a signature campaign calling on the alumni board to revoke Uson’s award.
“We express in the strongest terms our dismay and disgust that this award has been bestowed on Ms. Uson who has been proven several times to have purveyed ‘fake news,’ […] and whose language and demeanor today as in the past are hardly worthy of emulation,” the post read.“By your actions you have shown that you do not embody the noble virtues of the valiant legion, imbued with unending grace. You do not represent us, the UST alumni.”
The petition has garnered more than 900 signatures, as of writing.
Uson, a medical technology graduate of UST, received the Thomasian Alumni in Government Service Award given by the UST Alumni Association during their grand alumni homecoming on Sunday, which was roundly condemned on social media. With reports from Kevin A. Alabaso
READ:‘Uson does not, in any way, embody the ideals of a real Thomasian’: UST student council
