Jerome Gerald Cordero Yap, a UST alumnus who died during the magnitude 7.3 earthquake that hit Haiti was feted posthumously last Jan. 27 after the Mass to commemorate the Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas at the UST Chapel.

Yap, 43, an Advertising Arts graduate of the UST College of Fine Arts and Design (formerly College of Architecture and Fine Arts) received the Thomasian Medal of Excellence and a certificate of recognition for his “exemplary life of service” characterized by Thomasian core values of “competence, compassion and commitment, steadfastly guided by the ideals of the University”, from UST Rector Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P. who presided over the 5:15 concelebrated Mass to cap the annual triduum for the 726th death anniversary of UST’s patron saint.

Jerome Gerald Cordero Yap, a UST alumnus who died during the magnitude 7.3 earthquake that hit Haiti was feted posthumously last Jan. 27 after the Mass to commemorate the Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas at the UST Chapel.

“We are extremely honored to receive this award. UST is something we once felt is above us. But now we realize it is a family that takes care of its members. I believe Jerome is with us right now. He is smiling with us right now,” said Dr. Leticia Yap, who accepted the award for his son.

“It is very painful and difficult to lose a son. A mother should not bury a son,” Dr. Yap added in a broken tone as children Anthony, Lea Marie and Luigi – both UST graduates – looked on.

A member of the United Nations (UN) Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the last three years, Yap’s body was found at 6:15 a.m. last January 18 among the rubbles of the Christopher Hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. While working with MINUSTAH, Yap also served as assistant to Principal Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Luis Da Costa.

Prior to his three-year tour of duty in Haiti, Yap served as a member of the UN Peacekeeping Missions in Liberia (1989-2003) and Kosovo (2005-2006), respectively.