Mocha Uson as Assistant Press Secretary

The highly public uproar against the appointment of Mocha Uson as Assistant Press secretary just reflects how, even in the Digital age, our Country is still clearly divided along socio-economic and cultural lines.

There is really a cultural divide--the first halve belongs to those whose consciousness is urbane while the other, those whose consciousness is clearly formed by their direct experience living in the rustic and backwaters of even urban cities. There are people who belong to the "urbanidad" and tries to compare our mores with those of the West while the other, those who are outside the "urbanidad" sphere and who have formed their own interpretation of Reality based on their collective experiences.

Mocha is being judged by her past, a past which is clearly not acceptable to most people. There are people who are opposing her appointment based on clear cut standards like her previous involvement in Communications-related disciplines, like journalism, perhaps.

Let's fuse together these two concepts and assess whether Mocha Uson truly deserves the post she was appointed.

Many people think that government positions should not be treated as sinicures. For many, government appointments are serious ones. Government is tasked with forming policies which impacts not just the lives of the present, but even in the future. And by the very oath which these appointees bound themselves with, their allegiance is with the Filipino People, not with the appointive Power. Meaning, those appointees owe their positions to those who appointed them, the minute they serve government, they now are entrusted with the full resources of government by the people. The people expect these people not to toy with their monies--they expect them to do their best for the welfare of the Filipino People--their true masters.

Having said this, what now was the basis of President Duterte for appointing Mocha Uson? Let's analyze.

1. Uson's appointment is Communications-related. Mocha finished a nursing degree. BY profession, Mocha is a singer-dancer. Okey, Uson probably got some Communications-related courses when she was still studying nursing at the University of Santo Tomas.

Or, just maybe our dearly beloved president thought that the Communications office is very ill, and it needs a nurse. So, Mr. Duterte wants nothing more than give Mr. Martin Andanar and Mr. Abella some nursing care courtesy of Mocha Uson.

2. Mocha Uson has 3 million online followers. As a veteran of PR, this figure should be checked. How many of these 3 million are bots? We don't know. Everyone knows that online figures can be manipulated, the very same way, numbers of cellphone users can. Do you know there are about 80 million Filipinos using phones? Our population is about 101 million. About 75% are between the ages of 18-45 years old. Or just place it at 50 million registered voters. About 30 million more Filipinos own two or more phones.

Anyway, this is probably one of the President's reasons for appointing Mocha Uson. Undeniably, she is a popular online personality. The problem is, Communication involves traditional and outdoor media. Uson once accused media outlets of being biased and of being "Presstitutes."

Now, she is expected to deal with these "presstitutes" and the country expects her to communicate what is currently happening in our government. Now, how would Mocha Uson accomplish her tasks without directly dealing with these "presstitutes" as what she described the working media sector before? How then? If Uson then now uses traditional media, which she accused of being biased, how sure is she that the information she now gives thru traditional media will turn out as unbiased?

I dare our dear Asst secretary not to deal with the "presstitutes". Probably invent other platforms where she can deal with?

3. Mocha is being accused of being a purveyor of false information. The reason they are false information is these information does not reflect reality and are figments of someone's wild imagination. There are many instances where Uson did just that.

Now that she is now an official of the government, Uson has all the resources she needs to populate our public sphere with information from her imaginative mind. Do we need such a person this time? Yes. Why? Well, a Mocha Uson could easily twist figures to say there are no extra judicial killings in our society, that tourists are still safe to go to the Philippines and enjoy their vacation, that Filipinos are not experiencing economic hardships and many Filipinos are smiling every time they receive their electricity and water bills.

It's called "re-imagination." Being a former sex therapist, Mocha's imagination is what this administration needs in order to arrest the declining trust of the people behind Duterte. For this reason alone, Uson deserves the post.

Mocha Uson is a person who should be understood instead of villified

My good old friend, Leslie Bocobo, a passionate guy online, is trying to pit Rappler's Maria Ressa against Mocha Uson. This is understandable.

For one, Uson's blog has surpassed Rappler's online stats by the millions and with talks about efforts at bringing Mocha's blog down, expect this blog to gain more than rock star status in less than a month. And Mocha did it in less than a year, while Rappler gained theirs after four years of grueling work, and millions of pesos spent.

The thing about Rappler is that it claims to be a true repository of news and insights, when, for many occasions, it became a promoter of the interests of Big Business, the kind being promoted by the Iberians oligarchs and a whip master of the richest Indonesian family in the world. Rappler had their share of brickbats from readers in the past, for spreading news that serve someone's interests. For not being transparent, Rappler is courting public disapproval. Ressa has been asked several times before who funds them, and she always refused to reveal who really. This is a disconcerting thing, something which our readers should seriously consider while they read every single thing at Rappler.

For all the claims made by Ressa, that she's a journalist par excellence, she can never replicate what Mocha Uson did---bring out the voice of the masa to the fore of discussions about this country. Mocha represents the thoughts and views of ordinary Filipinos who are victimized by this system every single day. I noticed that the discussions and the way Mocha presents her views and her news updates shadow those being talked about by our fellow Filipinos in alleys, offices, department stores and even in most barbershops throughout the country. It follows a certain logical pattern of thought that is simple. What is most admiring about this is that people are showing signs of extraordinary interest in everything political and this is good. Mocha has surely engaged the masa in a way that no other person or organisation had for the past twenty years of online engagement.

Bocobo's cousin, the eminent Dean, disagrees with me when I took a stand against the petition to bring Mocha Uson's Facebook blog down. Dean has excellent points though. Arpee Lazaro too. They believe she's spreading disinformation and outright lies. For that, Facebook needs to bring her Facebook page down.

My disagreement stems from my staunch belief that the minute you do that to Mocha, she becomes another victim of a vicious and inhumane society. I don't want to be a part of a self-moralizing mob who thinks that they have the monopoly of what is Right and what is Wrong. We are entitled to our own version of Reality and if Mocha writes about her reality, that's her right, who am I to judge her?

The only thing I asked of Mocha is this---you once aimed to be a nurse, a profession which requires its servants to be extremely precise in what they do. This requires one having an inquisitive mind, and some skills in research. One advice---better to research the data that you spread online first. If your material is not supported by any study or is an outright fantasy, exercise your better judgement as a patriot, and stop yourself from spreading such lies.

Mocha Uson means well. Mocha wants to change the world, but I hope for the better, and one thing that she should start doing is be responsible for what she shares with her audience. Research first if the thing is true or not or just some figment of someone's brilliant yet demonic mind.

If Mocha loves her fellow Filipinos, she should encourage them to seek knowledge and not be another tool, another instrument of destructive politics. Likewise, Mocha should not worship Duterte, her idol, like he is god. Remember that Duterte himself admonished his DDS cheering squad to stop doing that. By exhibiting such blind and false worship, DDS supporters are just proving to the world that Duterte is Adolf Hitler incarnate, something which the enemies of this administration wants.

Wittingly or unwittingly, the DDS cheering squad being led by Mocha Uson is the one tainting the very image and reputation of Mayor Duterte. By acting like they are a rowdy bunch of blind philistines, DDS is giving the world the impression and the scare that this country is developing a potential Hitler which, seriously, is not a worthy epithet at all. We all know how the whole world hates Hitler and what he symbolize. Acting like the SS, threatening people with death when they comment negatively against Duterte, is seriously not the best way of showing the world that our president is doing an excellent thing.  The fact is--it is even fuelling the very negative impression before the world about us, Filipinos, and about our acquiesce to despicable things already repudiated by the entire world. This is making us the laughing stock of the world.

Mocha Uson is a victim of this violent world. When she was young, she witnessed the assassination of her father, a judge based in Pangasinan. Whatever outrageous and outlandish things she did with her life afterwards, Mocha is the only one who can say whether those things were correct or erroneous. Probably, at that time, those things were. And we simply are not worthy enough to say or accuse her of being a slut or a sinner because we are sinners as well. At some point in our lives, we also did outlandish and outrageous things, right?

If we join a growing number of citizens who believe that Mocha Uson is the demon incarnate, the temptress ultima, the diva of the DDS world, then, we are surely just mimicking the very same acts of the same monster we are fighting against.

Seeing her Inquirer interview made me a believer of what she is doing. Mocha represents your typical Duterte supporter who believes that the guy means business, that he has the heart for the country and he is ready to do just everything to realize what's in his mind.

Duterte became endeared with the people when during the elections, he made the people felt his patriotism. However, subsequent events are unfolding and serious doubts are forming in some people's minds about the sincerity of Duterte in pursuing these dramatic changes. It is however, too early to say that he is dishonest.