Written by the Office of Public Relations, UPLB
Friday, 06 March 2009 15:10
UPLB has issued an official statement to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation in light of a recent episode of their Maalala Mo Kaya program which inadvertently cast a bad light on the University and its constituents.
The complete letter is as follows:
Our attention has been called by constituents and alumni to an episode featured in Maala-ala 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.
Thank you.
One Response to “MMK’s Mental Lapses”
I wouldn’t call this MMK’s mental lapse. We are talking here of course about the show’s producers, writers, directors and actors. I am sure their mentality and good taste is much keener than that. Perhaps it is more of an unawareness of the fine line between good characterization and careless writing. Perhaps, because UP is so “up there” that it is a convenient symbol and target for depictng the downfall of an alumnus.
And anyway, I didn’t see any malicious intent in using a UPLB summa cum laude beauty as a character. I see it more as a lazy attempt to give the stripper, for more pathos, a contrasting background. “Biro mo. pare, summa cum laude, UP at ngayon naghuhubad na lamang!” This is not as bad nor as sad as some reported Filipino medical doctors who are forced to go to nursing school in order to get employment in the USA as nurses.
Would this reflect on their respective alma maters? Is it possible that the writers of this fictitious UPLB grad turned stripper were making a commentary on the economic situation in the PHilippines?
And of course, UP being the standard for high scholarship, fulfills the need for contrast, which after all is one element of drama.
I don’t think the UP System should worry about its repuration being affected “not only of a school but also of its alumni in the Philippines and abroad.” A minor lapse in a script’s production cannot overshadow nor ruin what the University of the Philippines has achieved since its founding in 1908. The reputation of the UNiversity of the Philippines will flourish in spite of minor bumps like wrong characterizations of its alumni in teleplays.
Full disclosure: I am a UP (Diliman) alumnus,an
old, old member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi and currently a
resident of Jersey City, right across Manhattan, New York.
Maraming salamat po!