How much does it cost to fight fake news?
If you ask Philippine Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar, it costs about PHP245 million (US$4.9 million). An amount, he said yesterday, that was needed to do workshops on fake news in the countryside.
But Senator Nany Binay questioned the need to ask for the PHP245 million-budget, especially because the office itself has a member known to spread fake news — its Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson who earns at least PHP100,000 (US$1,959) monthly.
“It is hard to separate the Mocha as private citizen and Mocha the Asec. I mean how can you, Secretary Andanar, fight fake news if there are instances where the Asec is the one spreading fake news? So I guess that’s your dilemma, how would you balance things,” Binay was quoted on Rappler.
Last year, Uson shared a photo of a nine-year-old rape victim with a caption chastising the critics of Duterte over their failure to condemn the assault and support the government’s anti-crime policies. The crime in question turned out to have happened in Brazil, not the Philippines.
Before her swearing in as an assistant secretary, Uson shared on her page at least two links from Pinoytrending.altervista.org and Trending News Portal, sites known to circulate fake stories.
The dancer-turned-blogger’s latest gaffe happened last August when she took a screenshot of an article of a police officer’s wake, her caption insinuated that opposition senators Leni Robredo, Bam Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Risa Hontiveros did not visit the officer’s wake.
But that officer died a year ago.
Andanar told the Senate that Uson’s blog is separate from her duties as a government official.
“…with the issue against Asec Mocha Uson, we had an agreement. Actually, she was the one who told me that her Facebook page is her own and whatever she says there is her own opinion and is not reflective of the PCOO. She really insists that the system should be like that.”
“Even if many have been hard on Asec Mocha, and she’s been literally bashed with the #FireMocha that came out, she still continues to fly with the president wherever he goes, especially in sensitive places. So that goes to show Asec Mocha enjoys the trust and confidence of the president,” Andanar said.
While Andanar and Uson may have agreed among themselves that her blog with 5 million followers doesn’t reflect that of her employer’s, the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees” says otherwise.
According to the code of conduct, acts do not necessarily need to be related or connected with a government official’s functions “as long as the act damages the reputation of the official’s department, the official can be held liable administratively.”
“She can no longer misbehave in the blog, she can’t curse,” a lawyer from the Office of the Ombudsman told Rappler.
“She could be made administratively liable for any misbehavior for conduct prejudicial to the interest of public service,” the lawyer added.
The PHP245 billion requested was in addition to its already proposed PHP1.35 billion (US$26.4 million) budget the PCOO already has.
