MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang Sunday advised critics of Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary and controversial blogger Mocha Uson to stop reading her online posts if they do not agree with her views.
Uson, a staunch supporter and defender of President Rodrigo Duterte, is using her blog to attack members of the opposition and the mainstream media, which he accused of being biased against the government.
During a Senate hearing last week, some senators confronted Uson over her partisan blog posts and reminded her that she is already a senior government official. They also asked her to decide whether she would remain an assistant secretary or continue being a blogger.
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Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, Uson’s immediate superior, said her blog posts do not reflect the positions of her agency.
“Almost everyone has Facebook account right? It just happened that Mocha has five million followers right? Others in the government do not even have 5,000. It just happened that Mocha is popular. Every time she posts comments in her Facebook account, they become viral because she has five million followers,” Andanar told radio station dzBB Sunday.
“Ngayon kung nabwi-bwisit ka sa sinusulat niya, eh huwag mong basahin, ‘di ba? Ganoon lang ang para sa akin (If you are irritated by her posts, then do not read it right? That’s just the way it is for me),” he added.
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Andanar urged the public to gauge his agency not based on personalities but based on the output of state-run media outlets like PTV 4, Radyo Pilipinas and Philippine News Agency.
“These are the official outlets of the Presidential Communications Operations Office. Let’s not make it personality-based,” he said.
Last week, Uson, who has been accused of spreading false information, claimed that she is a victim of “fake news” peddled by the mainstream media.
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