Senator Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III (inset) said the ‘I-pepe-dede-ralismo’ video of Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson was a step back for the campaign for federalism in the country. INQUIRER FILES
Senator Koko Pimentel branded on Wednesday the controversial video jingle of Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson as a step back in promoting federalism in the country.
Pimentel said that he did not care already whose side was disrespected after the word war between a number of senators, including himself, and Uson.
“Hindi na issue kung sino ang bastos or kung mag apologize siya. What I’m trying to say is the video that she did with this blogger did not and does not help the cause of federalism,” Pimentel said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel.
“Instead of being a step forward, it’s a step backward. So kung ganyan lang din ang kaya nilang ilabas na gimik to help the cause of federalism, huwag na,” he added.
Uson earlier said on Facebook that the senators who criticized her for the viral federalism jingle have disrespected the truth as they supposedly ignored the alleged 2016 elected fraud.
“Ako nagtitimpi lang dito sa ILANG mga Senador na ito. Matagal niyo nang pinaglalaruan ang taumbayan,” Uson said.
“Sino ngayon ang mas baboy sa atin???? 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,” she added
Pimentel said that instead of spreading awareness on the cause of federalism, Uson and her friend were just showing the public how to pronounce the word in a different way.
Pimentel also reiterated his call to Mocha to stay away from spreading information about federalism.
“Stay away from the cause of federalism because we need to explain the substance of federalism, the overall concept of federalism and the substance of the specific proposal,” he said.
On Sunday, Uson shared a video of her friend dancing to a jingle on federalism with the lyrics “I-pepe, i-pepe, i-dede, i-dede, i-pepe-pepe-pepederalismo!”
The said video sparked outraged from senators and the public. /cbb
READ: I-pepe-dede-ralismo video sparks outrage