In an interview with GMA News today, assistant secretary Mocha Uson of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said she still has to go through “brainstorming” sessions with other members of the Constitutional Commission (ConCom) before she could go to the senate to explain federalism to its members.
She also mentioned she can only go to the senate depending on the recommendation of the ConCom.
Uson is reacting to the invitation from Senator Nancy Binay, who yesterday said that she wants to invite Uson to explain the merits of federalism to the country’s senators.
According to CNN Philippines, Binay said: “Being the designated messenger, we also wanted to hear how she would articulate or interpret the salient points of the proposed federal charter and explain to the people how a shift in the form of government could move the country forward.”
Said Uson: “Thanks to Senator Nancy that she’s considering me as a resource person there [in the Senate]. There’s nothing I can say because we still have to do some brainstorming regarding that.”
WATCH: PCOO Asec. Mocha Uson welcomes Sen. Nancy Binay’s invitation to her to talk about Federalism | via @Joseph_Morong pic.twitter.com/StjIXYXxvh
— GMA News (@gmanews) August 2, 2018
When one of the reporters during the media huddle asked Uson, “Do you think federalism will help?” she answered with another question.
In her answer, Uson frequently referred to President Rodrigo Duterte as “mayor.”
She said: “The question is, have there been changes with the current government we have? That’s why that [federalism] is what our president wants, because we need change. Before he ran, mayor [Duterte] went around the country saying ‘Federalism, federalism!'”
She added: “The people are the ones who can say if federalism can help us.”
Doesn’t sound like a convincing argument.
Uson was tapped by the government to help educate Filipinos about the benefits of changing the presidential form of government to federalism.
It was an interesting choice, as Uson has been known for posting wrong information, such as when she wrote that St. Scholastica’s College forced its students to attend an anti-Ferdinand Marcos burial rally in 2017.
Her alleged propensity to spread disinformation led a youth activist group to file a complaint before the Ombudsman in April, which highlighted instances when Uson shared wrong information on her Facebook page.
A survey conducted by SWS showed that 75 percent of the respondents don’t even understand what the federal system requires, which may explain why the government has planned an information drive to educate Filipinos.
In today’s interview with reporters, Uson also vowed to explain the federal system to her followers on social media using layman’s language.
