University of the Philippines Executive Vice President Teodoro Herbosa, a special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19, has resigned from his post due to “personal reasons,” UP announced on Sunday, April 25.

UP President Danilo Concepcion accepted Herbosa’s resignation as executive vice president, “expressing his regret from the fact that Herbosa had served the University with great dedication, the university said in a statement posted on its website.

“In your service as Executive Vice President, you have shown how vital this position can be to the governance of the University,” Concepcion wrote in his letter accepting Herbosa’s resignation.

Concepcion said, however, that “it is imperative that there be consistency and harmony in our relationship as administrators, as well as in our public pronouncements, given that we both represent the larger University community, its spirit, and its interests.”

Herbosa’s resignation comes after he drew flak over his “death by community pantry” tweet. He tweeted this in reaction to reports of an elderly who died while waiting in line at a community pantry organized by actress Angel Locsin in Quezon City.

His controversial tweet angered many netizens, prompting him to issue a public apology on Facebook on Friday, April 23, saying that he should have phrased his comment better. At the time, he announced that he had filed a leave of absence to reflect on the “misstep.”

“I sincerely apologize for my tweet earlier today, tagging as ‘death by community pantry’ news of a senior citizen’s death at a community pantry of a celebrity. It may have sounded like a criticism but was ill-judged, when many are facing hardships and being helped by these kind hearted souls,” he said.

“I apologize to sincere organizers of community pantries who were hurt. I continue to reflect on the impact of my behavior. I assure you this has nothing to do with the institution that I serve, the University of the Philippines, I have filed a leave of absence while I reflect on my actions & this misstep,” Herbosa added.

As an NTF adviser, Herbosa defended the government’s response to the pandemic while the country experienced record-high surges in COVID-19 cases. In March, he said that the Philippine government has done a “fairly good job” in managing the public health crisis, in support of Malacañang’s self-assessment that its response to the pandemic was “excellent.”

He had also defended President Rodrigo Duterte and Health Secretary Francisco Duque from criticisms of poor management of the pandemic.

Some netizens who had called out Herbosa’s controversial tweet on community pantries pointed out that these initiatives were in response to the government’s poor pandemic response that has left many people jobless. (READ: ‘Pagod na ako sa inaction’: How a community pantry rose to fill gaps in gov’t response)

In October 2020, Herbosa also angered Filipinos online for sharing a rape joke on Facebook. This prompted him to issue a public apology and said he would undergo a gender sensitivity seminar to “make amends” for his mistake.

Herbosa was the co-lead of the UP Pandemic Response Team, which advised the government in decision-making regarding COVID-19.

Herbosa served as Executive Vice President of UP since the start of President Concepcion’s administration in 2017. – Rappler.com

Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, the lead stated that Teodoro Herbosa resigned from the state university. We have clarified this to mean he has resigned from his post as executive vice president.