MANILA, Philippines — The Akbayan Youth Group filed Monday, April 2 administrative charges against Presidential Communication Opertions Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson.
The charges filed before the Office of the Ombudsman includes grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service for being the source of “numerous and deliberate misinformation.”
This is the second complaint filed against Uson. In 2017, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed administrative and criminal charges against Uson for spreading “fake news” regarding the latter’s supposed foreign bank accounts.
Akbayan’s complaint stated, “the online and public persona of public official Uson is the source of numerous and deliberate misinformation.”
“This is contrary to the PCOO to ensure transparency and full and appropriate disclosure of policies, programs, official activities, and achievements of the Office of the President and the Executive Branch which are of public concern, and to inform and communicate the same to the Filipino people,” it added.
In the complaint, Akbayan sought Uson’s removal from office and dismissal from service, as she is “not competent to discharge her functions as a public officer.”
Malacañang, on the other hand, was quick to defend Uson saying the assistant secretary is not a peddler of fake news.
Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said, “of course not…To tell you frankly, I’m not reading everything that’s in the blogs. I don’t 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 said.
“I’m sure Asec. 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,” he added.
