PIA head urges Mocha Uson to apologize, take a leave

After a video on federalism by his fellow government official stirred up controversy, the head of Philippine Information Agency (PIA) urged Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to issue a public apology as well as to go on leave.

Harold Clavite, Director-General of the PIA, found Uson’s viral video not only an ‘insult’ to their profession in communication and public information, but also ‘degrading’ women and mothers.

“I respectfully urge Ms. Mocha Uson to take a leave of absence to think and reconfigure all her strategies putting into consideration the code of conduct and ethical standards that all public officials should adhere to,” Clavite said in his statement on Tuesday, August 7, adding that a public apology from the Palace official is ‘paramount.’

Clavite broke his silence regarding the issue to give importance to the “massive man-hours” the PIA, an office under the PCOO, has exhausted just to provide seminars and workshops to all stakeholders in public information.

“My stand on this issue defends the integrity and intelligence of all government information officers, volunteers, and partners— many of whom women and mothers— across the nation, who are continuously working very hard to positively influence the Filipino public to make them responsible sharers of information and be able to contribute to the significant change the public information infrastructure of this country so badly requires,” the PIA chief said.

“We have been sitting idly by for too long, and it is about time that someone speaks up and hold erring officials accountable for repeatedly tarnishing the reputation of our government,” he continued.

Calvite also said he took “great offense” at Uson’s actions, which “continuously damage” the righteousness of his communication and public agenda.

“I can no longer let her obscure and vilify my honest work in helping the President (Rodrigo Duterte), this government, and this country, as well as the efforts that we have painstakingly and patiently put into place under my leadership in PIA for the past two years,” he stressed.

It was on August 2 when Uson shared a Facebook live video where her co-host in the “Good News Game Show,” Drew Olivar, was seen dancing and gesturing to his crotch and chest areas while chanting, “I-pepe, i-pepe, i-dede, i-dede… ipederalismo!”

The video drew flak from government officials, lawmakers, and netizens as it went viral on Sunday, August 5, just a few days after she said she plans to use social media to further explain federalism to her fellow Filipinos.

Uson, on Monday, then hit back the senators who slammed her over the ‘ipederalismo’ video, saying that they were outraged with the controversial video but had no comment on the alleged cheating in the 2016 polls.

“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 said.