(UPDATED, April 13, 2025)
THE OFFICE of the Registrar has clarified that while senatorial candidate Eric Martinez enrolled in UST to study business administration, he did not complete the bachelor’s degree, as his unauthorized campaign material suggested.
On April 11, UST flagged a campaign material promoting Martinez, the representative of Valenzuela’s second district, for using the University’s name and logo, along with the phrase “May KANDIDATONG SENADOR na taga USTe.”
READ: UST flags unauthorized use of logo in senatorial campaign tarpaulin
The tarpaulins, posted near Gates 10 and 11 on Dapitan Street, stated at the bottom, “BATCH ‘93 BCS-BA,” suggesting that Martinez completed his bachelor of science in commerce, major in business administration, in 1993.
After a check of University records, however, Assistant Registrar Kashmer Cruz told the Varsitarian that Martinez was enrolled in UST until 1995 but was unable to complete his studies.
“Based on the records of the Office of the Registrar, Eric Morales Martinez was enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas under the program Bachelor of Science in Commerce Business Administration from 1st sem [of] 1989-1990 to 2nd sem, 1994-1995,” Cruz said.
“However, the program was not completed; hence, there is no graduation date,” she added.
Martinez’s profile on the website of Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the pro-Duterte political party under which he is running, also contradicts UST records.
Martinez’s short biography indicated that he served as the public relations officer of the Junior Chamber of Business Administration of UST from 1993 to 1997, or until two years after he supposedly left the University based on University records.
The congressman’s profile on Valenzuela’s official website also states that he took up business administration at UST and was an officer of the program’s organization until 1997.
As of this writing, the two tarpaulins have been removed.
UST Secretary General Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P. earlier said UST had consulted its legal counsel and would “keep in touch with Mr. Eric Martinez to cease and desist from using the University’s name and logo in any campaign-related materials.”
Coronel had also emphasized that the use of UST’s name and any version of its logo — whether old or new — in materials that imply the school’s endorsement is prohibited.
The Varsitarian has reached out to Martinez’s camp but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.
