Mocha Uson appears before NBI to face ‘fake news’ complaint

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Deputy Administrator Mocha Uson on Monday appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) head office in Manila after she was summoned for sharing misleading online information on the government’s response to the  coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Nandito ako para magpaliwanag. ‘Yung ginawa ko naman, ay ang intensyon ko i-inform ‘yung ating mga kababayan na hindi pinababayaan ng gobyerno ang ating mga health workers, mga frontliners,” she said in an interview with reporters at the NBI office, referring to her Facebook post in April which is the subject of her subpoena from NBI.

(I am here to explain. My intention in my post was to inform the public that the government is not neglecting our health workers and frontliners.)

“So ‘yung impormasyon na gusto kong i-share sa publiko, may ginagawa ang gobyerno, para pangalagaan yung frontliners natin. Nagkamali lang,” she added.

(The information I wanted to share to the public was that the government is doing something to take care of our frontliners. I just committed a mistake, an honest mistake on the photo.)

The complaint against Uson for which she was summoned by the NBI is related to her Facebook post in April with photos of personal protective equipment (PPE) that the government supposedly purchased.

Social media users, however, pointed out that her post included photos from a private foundation.

Uson said the use of the photo was an “honest mistake.”

She also earlier apologized for the wrong photo posted.

GSG