UST alumni press for recall of Uson’s award

Singer-blogger and now Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson, of the  Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) in charge of social media. (INQUIRER FILE)

A group of Thomasian alumni has insisted that the award conferred to Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson by the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association Inc. (USTAAI) must be revoked.

The Alliance of Concerned Thomasians Alumni Association (ACT-Now) “strongly” condemned the decision of the USTAAI, asserting that giving recognition to “one of government’s most rabid purveyors of fake news and propaganda” is an “insult” to graduates of the university who did or continue to do “exemplary” service to the public.

ACT-Now, in a statement on Monday, even urged USTAAI to “seriously take a look on its standard of public service ‘exemplifying Thomasian core values’.”

Adrian Romero, spokesperson of ACT-Now, said that Uson “discredited the role of the media, promoted hate against media practitioners, and justified the right to kill.”

Uson is an official at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) in charge of social media.

“It is utterly disgusting for USTAAI, which represents the UST community, to honor someone who deliberately misinforms the public – a deed in total contrast with the educational institution’s core objective to equip and instill Thomasians with knowledge and values that would allow them to be critical of society,” Romero said in the statement.

“Uson’s award is not just an insult to the Thomasian ideals and core values. It is an affront to UST’s long list of exemplary public servants, both inside and outside of government, who have done outstanding service to the country by offering their lives for the greater good,” he also said.

Romero then encouraged the Thomasian community to take action and actively “denounce the proliferation of fake news” that Uson circulates on social media.

Earlier, the UST Central Student Council described Uson as “an avid spreader and citer of fake news.”

READ: UST student council ‘strongly denounces’ Mocha Uson’s alumni award

Student leaders from UST Faculty of Arts and Letters also called the UST AAI to rescind the award it gave to Uson.

READ: Revoke award to Mocha Uson – UST student group

On Sunday, the USTAAI bestowed Uson the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service during the UST Grand Alumni Homecoming.

USTAAI president Henry Tenedero and vice president John Simon explained that the “sole criteria” for awardees is that he/she was a graduate of the university and serving the government.

READ: UST Alumni Association: Mocha Uson is an alumna, so she gets award

/kga