{"id":148114,"date":"2018-01-22T23:34:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T04:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=148114"},"modified":"2018-01-22T23:34:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T04:34:25","slug":"3-ust-awardees-offended-by-uson-recognition-return-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/22\/3-ust-awardees-offended-by-uson-recognition-return-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"3 UST awardees \u2018offended\u2019 by Uson recognition; return awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo:<\/a>
FILE: Tom Villarin (Photo<\/a>: Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three alumni of University of Santo Tomas (UST) who received the Thomasian in Government Service Award on Sunday, chose to return their recognitions after the UST Alumni Association Incorporated (UAAI) justified the awarding of Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Margaux \u201cMocha\u201d Uson.<\/p>\n

Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin questioned the criteria of the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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 the government,\u201d he said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker added that, \u201cIf that were true, then all Thomasian civil servants should have also been given such an award.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Villarin, it was \u201cshameful and unpleasant\u201d to accept the award when one\u2019s actions \u201cgo against the core values of Thomasians \u2013 truth in charity as well as public accountability and transparency in government.\u201d He further said that Uson has \u201ccorrupted the values that Thomasians hold dear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUson is a purveyor of fake news, an unrepentant violator of ethical standards in journalism, and a free-flowing fountain of foul language and obscenity,\u201d Villarin added.<\/p>\n

Another UST alumni who asked for anonymity is returning her award, an ABS-CBN news report stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of personal conviction and many others more deserving, I am returning this award for it has lost its meaning and significance,” she said<\/p>\n

UST Highschool graduate Bino A. Realuyo, a novelist based in New York who was a recipient of 75th Founding Anniversary Award, also wished to return his award.<\/p>\n

He commented that he accepted his recognition with pride and honor, believing in truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent Thomasian Alumni Award recognition of Mocha Uson, a known propagandist and \u2018purveyor of fake news\u2019 at a time when Freedom of the Press is under attack in the Philippines is an insult to all UST Alumni who believe in upholding one of the pillars of strong democracies\u2014VERITAS,\u201d he wrote in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a protest of your decision to support a political propagandist who thrives in attacking the highest ideals of Philippine democracy, I am returning the award given to me. Please give me a mailing address so that I may send this award back to you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, another awardee, Senator Joel Villanueva did not mention that he would return his award but admitted that he was \u2018offended\u2019 by the shallow criteria for the award.<\/p>\n

“The officers said the award is actually just a loyalty award, to that effect,\u00a0dahil parang ang criteriang sinasabi<\/em>\u00a0(because the criteria they are saying is that) you’re a graduate of UST and you work for the government,” Villanueva told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

“Kung tatanungin ‘nyo nga po ako kung na-<\/em>offend ako o hindi, <\/em>I will be [a] hypocrite kung sabihin kong hindi kasi gano’n na lang pala ang <\/em>criteria\u00a0(If you will ask me if I am offended or not, I would be a hypocrite if I say that I am not, because it looks like the criteria is just that),” he added<\/p>\n

He refused to comment on the controversy surrounding Uson\u2019s qualifications as according to him, it may seem like he is only \u201cgetting back at her\u201d after their word war before.<\/p>\n

The University\u2019s student council, its student publication The Varsitarian, and some Thomasians and alumni condemned the recognition of Uson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three alumni of University of Santo Tomas (UST) who received the Thomasian in Government Service Award on Sunday, chose to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":148152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[44361,16641,13092,39886,10120,2677],"class_list":["post-148114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-bino-a-realuyo","tag-joel-villanueva","tag-mocha-uson","tag-tom-villarin","tag-university-of-santo-tomas","tag-ust","mauthors-bea-kirstein-t-manalaysay","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}