How does congressperson or senator Mocha Uson sound?
Former assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Mocha Uson today has confirmed that she will run for an elective post next year as she denies reports that she was fired from her post by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Uson, a former actress and singer, made the announcement on her Facebook account.
She said that the rumors about her getting fired and her goal to stop the spread of fake news are what pushed her to run. Ironic, coming from someone who has been accused multiple times of spreading fake news.
She wrote in Filipino: “It’s not true that I was fired. I can prove that. It’s obvious that it’s a way for my political opponents to ruin me because they think I will run in 2019. Because of that I will run because I’m lucky that I can answer [the media] on my blog but how about those ordinary Filipinos who have no way to answer the media’s fake news. I will give you a voice. Thank you.”
The photo she used showed her sitting with the Senate seal hoisted on the background.
Uson is referring to rumors that she was fired by Duterte. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, an unnamed source told them that Duterte booted her out of PCOO.
The source told the Inquirer: “It was too much. She was too abusive and arrogant. Since she was fired in September, the President hasn’t spoken with her.”
The same person told the newspaper that it was Duterte’s Special Assistant Christopher “Bong” Go who told Uson that she was fired. Go, however, denied that he fired Uson.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also told the Inquirer that Uson resigned.
Uson resigned last week as a form of “sacrifice” to ensure that the PCOO’s budget will be approved. The approval of the agency’s budget was delayed due to her failure to show up during deliberations, where she would have been asked about her accomplishments in the past year.
It’s uncertain which position Uson will run for, but rumors are circulating that she’s gunning for either the Senate (which might explain the Senate seal on her photo) or The House of Representatives.
Uson became notorious for spreading misinformation. There was that time she shared the photo of a rape victim then slammed critics of the president for failing to support the government’s anti-crime campaign. Turns out the victim was Brazilian, not Filipino.
And there was that instance where she shared a photo of a policeman’s wake, then asked members of the opposition why they didn’t bother to visit to pay their respects. Turns out the policeman died the year before she posted that photo.
Despite her less-than-stellar reputation, her supporters are naturally excited by her decision. Wrote Jade De Guzman: “Make your opponents cry, Ma’am Mocha.”
Wrote Darl Sara: “Count me and my entire family.”
On Twitter, @SAINTDIEG0 had a different take. He said it was “time” to leave the country.
Time to leave this country pic.twitter.com/MwPjOKNZRR
— jego and 579 others (@SAINTDIEG0) October 8, 2018
@cumbermood wished the country good luck.
OH GOD. Good luck Pilipinas! pic.twitter.com/XVmxDXfqST
— Irene Adler (@cumbermood) October 8, 2018
