The word war between Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson and her critics continued, as the Palace official hit back at senators who criticized her over the ‘ipederalismo’ video posted on her official page, Mocha Uson Blog.
“Ako nagtitimpi lang dito sa ILANG mga Senador na ito. Matagal niyo nang pinaglalaruan ang taumbayan (I have held myself back from talking about some of these senators. You have been messing around with the public for a long time),” Uson wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, August 6.
She continued, “Nagagalit kayo sa video na sinayaw ni Drew Olivar kesyo binaboy daw ang PEDERALISMO pero NR (no reaction) kayo sa issue ng dayaan noong 2016 (You were outraged with the video in which Drew Olivar danced, saying federalism was disrespected, but you have no reactions about the issue of cheating in 2016).”
According to Uson, it was the senators who were being disrespectful when they did not let lawyer Glenn Chong speak up and reveal the truth about the alleged irregularities in the 2016 elections. Chong was one of the resource persons in the Senate hearing on the said issue.
“Ang laki ng sahod at pondo niyo pero saan niyo ginagamit? Ako na walang natangap diyan sa Pederalismo na ‘yan pero sasabihin niyo ‘binabastos’ ko. KAYO ANG BUMABASTOS SA KATOTOHANAN (You have a big salary and funds but where do you use it? I did not receive anything from that federalism campaign, yet you said I mocked it. You are the ones disrespecting the truth),” Uson stressed.
“Bakit niyo pinipigilan si Atty. Glenn Chong at nililihis ang issue???? Nakinabang ba kayo sa dayaan??? O nakinabang ba ang mga kaibigan ninyo (Why are you stopping Atty. Glenn Chong and diverting the attention away from the issue? Did you benefit from it? Or did your friends benefit from it)????” she questioned.
Senators like Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Risa Hontiveros, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Joel Villanueva, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Nancy Binay earlier expressed disappointment over the video clip from her “Good News Game Show,” wherein her co-host, Olivar, was seen gesturing to his crotch and chest areas while chanting, “I-pepe, i-pepe, i-dede, i-dede… ipederalismo!”
The video which was shared by Uson to her more than five million Facebook followers also drew the ire of the netizens, with some saying that she is wasting their taxes.
Uson, last Sunday, clarified that the viral video was taken even before the Consultative Committee (Con-com) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) asked for help in the federalism campaign, adding that her role in the information drive is only to help in promoting the federalism through social media.
Olivar, meanwhile, also responded to the criticisms, saying, “Ang dami-daming trivia doon, ang dami-daming magagandang nasabi about sa pederalismo. Pero bakit ‘yan lang ang inyong napansin. Bakit itong sayaw-sayaw lang na ito (There was a lot of trivia mentioned there, a lot of good things about federalism. But why did you only notice the dance)?“
“Parang sinabi na, diyan lang ba napunta ‘yung P90 million?’ Hindi pa nga nabibigay ‘yung budget ‘di ba? Tapos sasabihin niyong binabayaran kami, hoy para sabihin ko sa inyo, hindi ako nababayaran dahil mayaman ako. Hindi ko kailangan mga pera niyo (They said, ‘Is this where the P90 million was allocated?’ The budget was not yet given, right? And then you said we are being paid, for your information, I am paid because I’m rich. I do not need your money)!“ he added.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. in July said the government would spend up to P90 million for the federalism campaign. Of the said amount, P10 million pesos will be given to the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) for the production of materials.
[READ: PH gov’n to spend up to P90 million for federalism info dissemination]