UPLB Reacted on Angel Locsin's Maalaala Mo Kaya Episode

University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) issued an official statement questioning Angel Locsin's episode on Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) last February 28, 2009.

In the "Blusa" episode of MMK, Angel portrayed a girl who is supposedly a summa cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Her character had difficulty looking for a job so she resorted to being a night club dancer. Due to various problems, she lost her mind and became a vagrant (taong grasa).

Prof. Ma. Stella Tirol, Office of Public Relations Director of UP Los Baños, sent the official statement of UPLB regarding the said "Blusa" episode. It stated that UPLB does not have an alumna that matches the life story presented by the drama anthology show of ABS-CBN.

Through its statement, UPLB officials are asking ABS-CBN to set the record straight since the said MMK episode "affected the reputation of UPLB as an educational institution."

Here is the complete letter of UPLB (published as is):

"Our attention has been called by constituents and alumni to an episode featured in Maalaala Mo Kaya entitled Blusa, which was aired on ABS-CBN on Feb. 28 and on TFC recently. Our constituents and alumni were concerned whether the episode was based on truth.

The story was of a woman who allegedly graduated BS AgriBusiness, summa cum laude, from the University of the Philippines Los Baños or UPLB, who could not find a job, and ended up a stripper. We tried to find out who the subject was by tracking all 27 of our summa cum laude graduates from the time the University was established in 1909. We could not find anyone matching the subject as portrayed in Blusa.

Whether or not the subject was a UPLB graduate, we deeply sympathize with her and her family. However, in the interest of maintaining its reputation as a truthful storyteller, the MMK should have a mechanism to validate claims by letter senders especially those that require a stretch of imagination as to be believed.

While indeed touching and a perfect example of a human-interest story, Blusa regrettably affected the reputation of UPLB as an educational institution and its constituents and alumni. We therefore request ABS-CBN to set the record straight and correct the wrong impression that it created among its viewers. We also make an appeal to producers of similar programs to be more prudent in reporting stories with claims that would affect the reputation not only of a school but also of its alumni in the Philippines and abroad."