The controversy has also led to their adviser’s resignation from the position.
In an advisory, TomasinoWeb, a campus publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) announced that they are temporarily stopping from posting on their social media pages.
“In view of the resignation of our organization adviser, and following the protocol of the Office for Student Affairs, our publication on ALL social media platforms will be on hold until further notice.”
Although, TomasinoWeb will continue providing their stories to their official website for the time being, the publication added.
The move comes as a response to the resignation of their journalism adviser from the post, as the UST’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA) raised concerns over and ordered TomasinoWeb to remove a certain photo they uploaded online.
The post in question involved two students from the College of Information and Computing Science (CICS) standing in front of a convenience store.
The photo grew reactions on social media, as the ‘Type B’ uniform worn by the students were similar to that of the convenience store staff.
Due to that, TomasinoWeb disclosed in a separate statement on Friday that “the organization was told [by the administration] that the photo has become a source of public ridicule toward CICS students, their College, and the University as whole due to the supposed association of the CICS Type B uniform with convenience store’s employee uniform.”
In their defense, TomasinoWeb explained that they “never intended to cause any harm to anyone.”
“While we believe being a convenience store worker is honest work, we acknowledge that the photograph still caused a stir online and for that, we sincerely apologize,” the publication added.
They have since removed the controversial photo from their platforms.