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Youth group sues Mocha Uson for ‘grave misconduct, serious dishonesty’


A group of youth leaders on Monday called for the removal and dismissal from service of Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson as they filed an administrative complaint against her for supposedly spreading disinformation.

In a 10-page complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, student leaders of Akbayan Youth charged Uson with grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for allegedly spreading fake information on various media platforms while serving as assistant secretary in the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

"Naniniwala kami na hindi siya karapat-dapat sa posisyon niya at sa sweldo niya bilang assistant secretary ng PCOO. Kaya po ang panawagan namin ngayon ay patalsikin si Mocha sa kanyang posisyon," Shamah Bulangis, one of the complainants, said.

The group cited Uson's act of making public arbitrary ascertainment of facts that caused cyberbullying attacks against students of St. Scholastica's College. They said her stay at the PCOO is "a threat to the security" of people opposed to the administration.

The group said Uson allegedly spread misinformation through a blogpost in November 2016 that says students from St. Scholastica's College were required to attend a protest rally.

"This unreasonable and unfair act of Uson—of posting  false accusations against the school without verifying the accuracy of the information—led to cyberbullying attacks directed against students of St. Scholastica’s College," the complaint read.

"Following this, there is no doubt that Uson is a threat to the security of people that voice their criticism against the government," it added.

The group also said Uson is incompetent to hold her current position, as she shows gross ignorance of the provisions of the Constitution and the Philippine geography as well.

They cited Uson's statement in her January 2018 video blog where she stated that Mayon Volcano, which was then on high alert status, was in Naga City, causing "confusion to Filipinos."

Naga City is in Camarines Sur and the volcano is in Albay province.

"Clearly, Uson is grossly incompetent to convey the right information to guide the Filipino public," the complaint said.

Aside from this, the group said Uson committed gross dishonesty by deliberately using misleading statements.

They said that in August 2017, Uson dared several opposition public officials to visit the wake of slain police Senior Inspector Mark Garcia even as the policeman died a year earlier.

They also cited Uson's photograph of Honduran military forces "to convey misinformation," making it appear that it was a photograph of the Philippine military.

Lastly, the group accused Uson of using her powers to stifle oppositors of the administration which, they said, is "contrary to the Constitution."

They cited Uson's allegations that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has offshore bank accounts, and her act of calling Vice President Leni Robredo "bobo" at least five times on live radio.

On Facebook, Uson mocked the filing of the complaint saying it gave her an idea of the name of her future coffee shop.

"Nagpapasalamat po ako sa Akbayan Youth dahil binigyan nila ako ng idea sa magiging pangalan ng aking future coffee shop. Ito ang 'Fire Mocha Cafe.' Kape tayo," she said.

The complainants include Samantha Julia Eala, Raymond John Naguit, Misha Borbon, Jonathan Austria, Angel Ruben Roxas, Hernan Delizo, Roman Romero, Basilio Enrique Claudio and Kisha Beringuela.

Trillanes, in September 2017, also filed a complaint against Uson for allegedly spreading fake news over his supposed offshore bank accounts.

Akbayan Youth also filed a complaint against Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in July 2017, also for supposedly spreading fake news. —with Virgil Lopez/ALG, GMA News

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