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Mocha shrugs off youth group's 'fake news' raps

Philstar.com

April 2, 2018 | 9:45pm

Mocha shrugs off youth group's 'fake news' raps

A Malacañang official said the Palace is confident Uson can defend herself against the accusations. File photo

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson ignored raps that youth activists filed against her at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday.

Instead, she thanked Akbayan Youth for giving her an idea for a name for a future business.

"I thank the Akbayan Youth because they gave me an idea on the name of my future coffee shop. It will be 'Fire Mocha Cafe.' Watch out for that. Thank you. Let's have coffee," Uson said in a video posted on her Facebook account, which she maintains is an outlet for her personal opinions and is not connected to her work in government.

Akbayan Youth earlier Monday said it was filing a complaint of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against the blogger and government official.

The youth group said that despite being a government official, Uson has a public blog and has a radio/television segment with dzBB. Uson also has a weekly column in The STAR.

"The online and public persona of public official Uson is the source of numerous and deliberate misinformation," the youth group said.

Uson's online persona is contrary to her mandate as a PCOO official to ensure transparency and full and appropriate disclosure of the programs of the Office of the President and the executive branch, the group said.

"Uson's continuous act of making public statements heard, witnessed, watched, and accessed by Filipinos, are inconsistent with the PCOO's functions," Akbayan Youth said.

READ: Mocha faces raps for spreading 'fake news'

A Malacañang official said Monday that the Palace is confident that Uson will be able to defend herself from her accusers.

"I understand that was filed before the Ombudsman, an administrative case. Well I'm sure Assistant Secretary Mocha will be able to defend herself. There are processes to follow and to observe and she'll be given her fair chance to be able to explain," Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a press briefing.

Asked if he agrees that Uson is purveying fake news, Guevarra said: "Of course not."

"Frankly, I do not read everything that is in the blogs. I don't really have much time to go over all of these things, but she has consistently denied it. So I take her word for it, as a fellow worker, I take her word for it," he added.

Uson, head of the social media unit of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, has been scored in the past for posting misinformation as well as attacks on members of the political opposition on her Facebook page, which she says is not a government social media account.

Secretary Martin Andanar, who leads PCOO, has said that Uson's content on government programs like the DDS Podcast, which is aired on government radio and through its Facebook pages are vetted and are not "fake news" — a term now loosely used to refer to disinformation and propaganda. — Alexis Romero