ABS-CBN Admits Failure to Verify Summa Cum Laude Claim in MMK Blusa with UPLB

After UP Los Banos (UPLB) issued an official statement denouncing the shady facts exhibited in the Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) "Blusa" episode that starred Angel Locsin shown last February 28, ABS-CBN finally gives their side regarding this issue. It can be remembered that this MMK "Blusa" episode claimed that a former UPLB BS Agribusiness Management summa cum laude found it hard to find a job so she ended up as a night club dancer to fend off the needs of her poor family.



Over the Internet, students and alumni of UPLB condemned the MMK because no UPLB Agribusiness Management summa cum laude fits the description of Nemie, the character played by Angel Locsin. With this, UPLB asked MMK to "set the records straight" (To know more, please read - ABS-CBN Mum about MMK Blusa Inconsistencies | UPLB Demands to Set the Records Straight).

Finally, ABS-CBN released their official statement on March 9. This was issued by the ABS-CBN Corporate Communications Department:

Storytelling in Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) is always based on narratives sent to the program by people who want to share their stories. MMK decides to go into production of the chosen stories, ONLY after the letter sender has signed a waiver attesting to the authenticity of the story sent.

MMK recognizes that a number of UPLB alumni are questioning the truthfulness of one letter sender who claims that her sister, the main character in ‘Blusa’ essayed by Ms. Angel Locsin, was indeed a UPLB BS AgriBusiness, summa cum laude graduate, who could not find a job and ended up as a stripper.

When MMK found out about the adverse reactions, the MMK production group went back to the letter sender to inform her of the issue raised and to re-verify her account. She reiterated that she stands by her story.

Be that as it may, and after careful deliberation, MMK realizes that its writing and research pool may have been remiss in one thing—verifying with UPLB the veracity of the indicated facts of the letter sender. Having said that, MMK sincerely apologizes for the oversight.

MMK always aims for truth and excellence. This incident may have deviated from its tight norm, but rest assured that MMK will continue to serve its publics with utmost care and respect.

ABS-CBN Mum about MMK Blusa Inconsistencies | UPLB Demands to Set the Records Straight

The Charo Santos-Concio-hosted Maalalala Mo Kaya (MMK) episode about a UPLB summa cum laude played by Angel Locsin is causing an uproar on the Internet. This issue was first brought to light by The Professional Heckler, who wrote to PEP with regards to the distorted facts in the said MMK episode. This time, UP Los Banos itself joined in the clamor as it issued a statement regarding the "wrong impression" the MMK "Blusa" episode bestowed upon its viewers. The prestigious institution is now demanding that it is only right for ABS-CBN to "set the records straight" and lay bare the truth that Nemie is NOT a UPLB summa cum laude. You can read the UPLB's Official Statement here.




This MMK episode entitled "Blusa" alleged that a certain UPLB summa cum laude in BS Agribusiness Management named Nemie (Angel Locsin) found it hard to land a job that she ended up working as a club dancer. Later on, she lost her mind because Nemie became so frustrated about the series of unfortunate events that happened in her life. You can click here to know more about this MMK episode.

UPLB has made a rigorous research in its history since 1909 and found out that out of the 27 summa cum laude graduates, no one fit the description of Nemie. Here are the list of UPLB's summa cum laudes in all of its history:

1. 1946 BS Agriculture - Obdulia Fronda
2. 1947 BS Agriculture
3. 1975 BS Agriculture - Cielito Habito
4. 1976 BS Biology
5. 1978 BS Applied Mathematics
6. 1979 BS Biology
7. 1982 BS Biology
8. 1987 BS Biology
9. 1987 BS Biology
10. 1988 BS Applied Mathematics
11. 1992 BS Biology
12. 1992 BS Biology
13. 1993 BS Applied Mathematics
14. 1993 BS Biology
15. 1995 BS Economics
16. 1996 BS Biology
17. 1996 BS Economics
18. 1998 BS Economics
19. 2000 BS Agribusiness Management
20. 2002 BS Applied Mathematics
21. 2004 BS Biology
22. 2005 BS Chemistry
23. 2005 BS Economics
24. 2006 BS Chemistry
25. 2006 BS Applied Physics
26. 2007 BS Biology
27. 2007 BS Economics

As anyone can clearly see, only one summa cum laude graduated with a BS Agribusiness Management degree in UPLB. That was in year 2000. It is impossible for THAT former student to be the one who was the basis of Nemie's character, since the MMK episode showed the real Nemie is already old (about 45 to 50 years old), while this Agribusiness summa cum laude is estimated to be just around 28 to 29 years old.

In the UPLB statement, the institution reiterated that:

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.

The issue here is not about the improbability of a UP summa cum laude to end up as a club dancer because she cannot find a more decent job, but it is the premise of distorting the fact that she's a UPLB summa cum laude when she is not. There's no amount of dramatic/creative license can justify that because whether she is summa cum laude or not, her academic status is immaterial to the progression of Nemie's character. 

Declaring Nemie as a UPLB summa cum laude when she's not would only tarnish the reputation of an esteemed university. What impression would it give to its students and future students? That a UPLB Agribusiness/Agriculture summa cum laude cannot even get a decent job, so better yet they shift to Nursing? That UPLB is not offering job recommendations for their top graduates? The list goes on and these are the ramifications of misrepresenting one basic fact that she's NOT a summa cum laude. 

In the light of all these brouhaha, ABS-CBN seems to play deaf amidst this issue.  Tell me, whatever happened to the "Panig sa Katotohanan, Panig sa Bayan" mantra that they are proudly wielding in their news promo plugs? Tita Charo, charot lang pala lahat yon?! Kalurkey!

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Angel Locsin's MMK "BLUSA" - Too Sensationalized and Far from Reality?

A blogger, The Professional Heckler declared that he received a letter from the University of the Philippines that affirmed the exaggerated and "sensationalized" portrayal of the life story of a certain "Nemie" or "Nemy" aired lst February in the Charo Santos-hosted drama anthology Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK).

This particular episode entitled "Blusa" starred Angel Locsin who portrayed "Nemie" an alleged summa cum laude in BS Agribusiness Management from the UP Los Banos. Nemie, despite from being a UP summa cum laude, cannot find a job after graduating. This alone is quite unbelievable, since if you're a UP summa cum laude, your chances to be invited as a UP faculty is very high. Second, for the lack of better job options in Manila, Nemie was forced to work as a nightclub dancer. Maybe she might have not applied to the right companies, but certainly agribusiness majors can have better job options working in agri-based firms. It doesn't take to be a UP summa cum laude to figure that out. I found the script even funny because Angel Locsin, before she went nuts in the story, keeps repeating every 5 minutes that:"UP Graduate Ako! Summa Cum Laude". Now, it appears that this story is a total sham after all! To see the entire episode of Blusa, click here.

Anyway, The Professional Heckler is trying to coordinate with the UPLB Public Relations director to shed light about this issue. Here is his statement in his blog:

The summa cum laude claim of “Maalaala Mo Kaya” was a sham, a deception, isang malinaw na pagkakamali kundi man tuwirang panloloko sa mga tagapanood ng naturang programa. I am just waiting for the official statement from Prof. Stella Tirol, Office of Public Relations Director of UP Los Baños. I might post the statement here.

UPDATE! PEParazzi has already taken in this issue. Read here.


BREAKING NEWS! UP Los Baños Already Issued Official Statement Regarding this MMK "Blusa" Episode. Click HERE to view.

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Another Great Performance by Angel in MMK's "Blusa"

After winning last year's PMPC Star Awards Best Actress for TV in a Single Performance for Maalala Mo Kaya (MMK) "Pilat" episode, Angel Locsin once again proved that she can now sustain a consistently good acting performance. In MMK's episode last night entitled "Blusa", Angel played the role of poor girl who wished she can heave up her family from poverty. Although she graduated summa cum laude, Angel's character Nemie realized that she still cannot get a job easily. Things went awry until she became mentally ill. You can watch Angel Locsin's MMK Blusa episode after the jump.

In this episode, Dimples Romana played the role as Nemia's sister. Another surprise is that AJ Dee is in this episode. If you can remember, AJ Dee has once been an "It" Boy in ABS-CBN as he was once a TV Idol. Now, it seems his career has been overtaken by his yummier younger brother Enchong.

Anyway, here's the full MMK Blusa episode:



Technorati Tags: MMK Blusa, Maalaala Mo Kaya, Angel Locsin, AJ Dee

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