Not off the hook: Ombudsman to probe Mocha

Former sexy dancer Mocha Uson will still be investigated by the Ombudsman despite her recent resignation as assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

Uson and her erstwhile boss, Secretary Martin Andanar, were ordered to respond to complaints regarding the videos she posted on her controversial Facebook page, “Mocha Uson Blog.”

“We issued an order requiring her and Andanar to file comments,” Ombudsman Samuel Martires confirmed on Thursday.

Martires added that Uson’s resignation—which she announced during a Senate hearing on Wednesday—would have no effect on the pending criminal and administrative proceedings.

Public office ban

Should Uson be found liable for a serious offense punishable by dismissal, she could be perpetually banned from public office.

Reporters also obtained a Sept. 28 letter addressed to Uson that invoked Section 26 of the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

In the letter, Uson was given 10 days to submit her written explanation in connection with a complaint filed on Sept. 20 by representatives of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf.

The advocates for the deaf had accused Uson and her blogger-friend Drew Olivar of violating the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The Ombudsman’s directive also cited reports of the duo’s participation in the controversial federalism jingle video purportedly as part of the government’s campaign for federalism information dissemination.

Uson lauded

The Office of the Ombudsman, then under Conchita Carpio Morales, also accused Uson of “deliberately using misleading statements” and of showing “incompetence” in several social media posts attacking opposition figures such as Vice President Leni Robredo and Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros and Antonio Trillanes IV.

Meanwhile, the director general of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) lauded Uson for being “humble enough” to step down.

Harold Clavite also said he could prove Uson wrong if it was true that she was accusing the PIA of “doing nothing” as a government agency.

Clavite had asked for Uson’s resignation for dragging the PCOO into several controversies.

Eyeliner to eyeliner

On Thursday, Uson lashed out at Robredo anew for saying that the former dancer was still liable for allegedly spreading lies.

Uson said it was Robredo who was full of lies and scandals.

“Who is really telling a lie? Even your position as Vice President is a big lie,” Uson said, addressing Robredo, in an interview on UNTV on Thursday.

Uson lambasted Robredo’s previous video message, which was presented at the 60th UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in 2017, regarding extrajudicial killings in the country.

She claimed that Robredo’s video endangered the lives of overseas Filipino workers.

“The fight is even now. I have nothing to hide. I have no fear. Let’s face each other, eye to eye, eyeliner to eyeliner,” she said. —VINCE F. NONATO, JEOFFREY MAITEM, DIVINA SUSON AND DAPHNE GALVEZ