Is there now a divergence of opinion in the Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO)?
President Rodrigo Duterte may be cool about it but not a Palace communication official, who asked Communication Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson to apologize and take a leave of absence in light of her raunchy video on federalism which he found to be offensive.
Public Information Agency (PIA) Director General Harold Clavite went on Facebook to condemn Uson for posting the video, as well as for her past actions that put her fellow government communicators in a bad light.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said that, just like Uson, the PIA chief had the right to speak out his opinion.
The PIA is the development communication arm of the government. It is under the PCOO.
Take leave of absence
“On the heels of… Uson’s latest blunder on the administration’s campaign to push for federalism, a public apology from the PCOO official is paramount. Along this line is a call for her to take a leave of absence to reflect on these matters,” Clavite said on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He urged Uson to “think and reconfigure all her strategies, putting into consideration the code of conduct and ethical standards that all public officials should adhere to.”
Uson has remained unapologetic over her posting of the video on her blog, a clip of which showed her cohost Drew Olivar doing dirty dancing while singing “I-pepe, i-dede. I-pepe, pede, pede, pederalismo.”
“Pepe” and “dede” are vernacular terms for “vagina” and “breasts,” respectively.
Clavite said the video was “not only a seeming insult to our profession in communication and public information but also degrading to the women and mothers in our communities.”
‘Utter lack of judgment’
“Ms Uson’s actions since her appointment have time and again proven to be in poor taste —a display of an utter lack of judgment and have maligned our profession as government communicators,” he said.
As a public servant, he said, he took offense in Uson’s actions.
“I can no longer let her obscure and villify my honest work in helping the President, this government, and this country, as well as the efforts that we have painstakingly and patiently put in place under my leadership in PIA for the past two years,” Clavite said.
The PIA chief admitted that they had been “sitting idly by for too long and it’s about time that someone speaks up and hold erring officials accountable for repeatedly tarnishing the reputation of our government.”
Interviewed over radio, Andanar likened Clavite’s outburst against Uson to a family where its members hold different opinions.
“I respect the freedom of expression of Mocha and I’ve been respecting that since day one. And I also respect the freedom of expression, the right to express himself, of Director General Harold Clavite,” he said.