UST Alumni Association Prexy resigns as Mocha’s award sparks criticisms

FILE: During the university’s Grand Alumni Homecoming on Sunday, Uson received the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service given by the USTAAI. (Photo by Michael Angelo M. Reyes/The Varsitarian)

MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas (UST) Alumni Association Inc. (USTAAI) President Henry Tenedero has resigned on Tuesday evening following the uproar of criticisms related to the Thomasian Alumni award given to Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson.

During the university’s Grand Alumni Homecoming on Sunday, Uson received the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service given by the USTAAI.

In a statement, he USTAAI expressed its apologies to the UST community and to the general public for any criticisms the conferment of the Award may have caused, however, it stood firm with its decision not to cancel any award that has been given.

“The USTAAI  most humbly expresses its sincerest apologies to the Father Rector, UST Administration, alumni, students, and the general public as well for any reactions that may have resulted from the conferment of the recognitions in the Thomasian Alumni in Government Service,” the USTAAI said in a statement.

“The USTAAI stands firm with its decision not to rescind the recognition already conferred… As head of the USTAAI, President Henry Tenedero humbly takes full responsibility on what has happened, thus, tendering his resignation,” it added.

The recognition given to Uson was widely criticized by the university’s alumni and students, the general public, including The Varsitarian, the official student publication of the university.

In its editorial, The Varsitarian lambasted the USTAAI’s efforts to confer Uson with the award, even calling for the resignation of the organization’s officials.

“For the entire UAAI leadership to have ignored her dubious track record and the controversy it had elicited is sheer incompetence, irresponsibility, stupidity and even corruption,” the student publication wrote.

Earlier, UST disowned the award given to Uson following the backlash, saying the USTAAI is an organization distinct and separate from the university, with its own board of trustees.

Meanwhile, fellow awardee and Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin vowed to return the award, saying: “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 the government. If that were true, then all Thomasian civil servants should have also been given such an award.”

Villarin even branded Uson as a “purveyor of fake news, an unrepentant violator of ethical standards in journalism and a free-flowing fountain of foul language.”