Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson. RICHARD A. REYES / INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
A student group in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is “strongly urging” the revocation of the award given to Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson, whom they accuse of spreading false information.
On Sunday, the UST Alumni Association Inc. (UST-AAI) gave Uson the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service. She is the author of “Mocha Uson Blog” on Facebook.
READ: Mocha Uson receives UST alumni award for government service
“We, the Artlets Student Council, urge the UST-AAI to revoke the award given to Uson,” the student council of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (ABSC) said in a statement released on its official Facebook page late Sunday evening.
“We condemn any form of false information given by individuals such as herself,” it added.
According to ABSC, Uson was known “for propagating fake news in her blog” and “does not deserve any form of award.”
“The ABSC still highly believe that she does not deserve to receive any form of award, which entails a reward for her merits; let alone be recognized by the University as a notable alumni,” it said.
The UST-AAI has explained that the “sole criteria” for being an awardee for government service was that the recipient was a graduate of UST and was an employee of the government.
READ: UST alumni association: Mocha Uson is an alumna so she gets award
Earlier, the UST Central Student Council (CSC) slammed the decision of UST-AAI saying that Uson “does not, in any way, embody the ideals of a real Thomasian.”
“With all due respect, Ms. Esther Margaux Mocha Justiniano Uson, does not deserve an award that was supposed to be meant solely for outstanding Thomasian alumni,” UST CSC said in a statement.
The UST-AAI explained that the award given to Uson was different from The Thomasian Outstanding Leadership Award, the highest award bestowed by the university. /cbb