Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque is known to always defend the administration and its supporters no matter what but in a TV interview yesterday, he had some uncharacteristically strong words about staunch Duterte supporter Mocha Uson.
In an interview in ANC show Headstart, he said that Uson will become “irrelevant” if she continues to ignore what her critics have to say.
“I think a big chunk of the population have expressed disagreement with what she’s doing and if she continues to ignore these, she will become irrelevant,” Roque said.
Uson, who is a dancer, blogger, and assistant secretary for the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) was recently under fire yet again for being part of the controversial “i-pepe,” “i-dede” video.
In the video, Uson and her co-host Drew Olivar joke about spreading awareness on federalism by singing and dancing “Ipepe, ipepe. Idede, idede. Ipede, pede, pede, pederalismo!”
In Filipino slang, “pepe” means vagina while “dede” means boobs.
The government had tapped Uson to help educate Filipinos about federalism as the administration pushes for a charter change.
While many were angered by the video, Roque said after the controversy broke out that President Rodrigo Duterte was “cool” about it.
Uson has found herself in the middle of the controversy multiple times and has been accused of spreading fake news to more than 5 million of her followers.
In the same interview with Headstart, Roque said that Uson would “pay a very heavy price if she does not control herself.”
“If she wants to be equally popular today as she was in the past, then she will attune her communication to what the public wants and needs,” he added.
He also said that PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar should discipline his subordinates, like Uson, more.
