#FireMocha has been trending on Philippine Twitter since yesterday and remains the number one trending topic today. But why?
It all started with (yet another) post containing false information.
The dancer-turned-blogger and now Philippine Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson tweeted a screenshot of an article about the death of a police officer last Thursday.
The graphic and Uson’s caption insinuated that opposition senators Leni Robredo, Bam Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Risa Hontiveros did not visit the officer’s wake.
There’s only one small problem: The officer died a year ago. In other words, she shared an old story without checking the date.
Twitter users pointed this out, which eventually led to the trending #FireMocha hashtag.
This happened a year ago. Can't believe our taxes go to a comms official who peddles fake news. We don't deserve this. #FireMocha pic.twitter.com/NUA8Bk2uHB
— Bumble Roco đ (@rupertnotholmes) August 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/setv79/status/900071950831276032
https://twitter.com/miggyxmigs/status/900119553354514432
The fact that she spent significant amount of time and energy just to make grossly vulgar and distasteful post. #FireMocha
— Andrea (@deasmendoza) August 22, 2017
#FireMocha because Filipinos deserves better.
— Kelvin Aseñas (@bibin_12) August 23, 2017
#FireMocha 'cause she's a big insult to our hardworking and professional journalists.
— _ (@msaira_) August 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/PilosopoTanya/status/899981064025722880
Uson’s tweet has since been taken down.
Uson has long been criticized for spreading erroneous content.
Last year, she shared a post with the caption: “Truly revolting â Nine-year old raped and murdered and we havenât heard condemning this brutal act from human rightists, bishops and âpresstitutesâ who are derailing the governmentâs war against drugs and crime.â
But the photo she shared was taken in Brazil and not the Philippines. Uson did not write the caption and took down the post after finding out that it was false.
A similar incident happened in May when Uson urged the public to pray for the Philippine army with a photo of a group of uniformed men kneeling.
“Let’s pray for our army. Let’s also pray for the families that were left behind and are concerned about the well-being of their husbands and fathers,” Uson’s caption said.
But the photo she shared was not of Filipino soldiers but of police from Honduras.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Uson the assistant secretary position in May. Before that, she was a board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).
