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Mocha Uson goes to NBI for 'fake news' probe, explains 'honest mistake' in Facebook post
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Deputy Administrator Mocha Uson said Monday she made an "honest mistake" in a Facebook post that caught the eye of the NBI's "fake news" investigators.
Uson went to the NBI in compliance with a subpoena from the bureau's cybercrime division, which ordered her to explain her use of a photo from a private group to accompany a Facebook post about the government's purchase of personal protective equipment.
In early April, Uson, who runs a widely followed Facebook page, published a post about the delivery of some 15,000 sets of PPEs purchased by the Department of Health. A photo she used in the post, however, turned out to be one from SM Foundation.
She said Monday that her intention was to inform the public that the government is not neglecting frontliners.
"Kaya nga du'n sa post ko, nai-share ko 'yung good news na mayroong ginagawang aksiyon ang gobyerno na mag-provide ng PPEs sa ating mga frontliners," she said in an interview at the NBI.
"Eh nagamit ko 'yung photo na 'yun mula sa Philippine Star na respetadong mainstream media, broadsheet. 'Yun pala mali din sila ng nagamit na larawan. So 'yung impormasyon na gusto kong i-share sa publiko [ay] may ginagawa ang gobyerno para pangalagaan 'yung frontliners natin. Nagkamali lang, honest mistake 'yung sa photo," the official said.
She explained that she issued an erratum on her Facebook page following the error.
The Philippine Star published a story about the delivery of 15,000 sets of PPEs bought by the Department of Health on April 2.
An editor's note on the article posted on news website philstar.com reads: "An earlier version of the story showed a photo of healthcare workers of The Medical City in personal protective equipment. The PPEs shown in the photo were donated by SM Foundation, which did not reflect in the earlier copy. A new photo showing a delivery of health supplies from the Department of Health was replaced to accompany the story."
NBI cybercrime division chief Victor Lorenzo said Uson submitted photos on the sequence of events on the subject of the complaint. To recall, the NBI summoned the administration official because there were complainants against her.
"We will wait for their (Mocha Uson's) affidavit. Will make a report, will have it evaluated," Lorenzo told GMA News Online.
In April 2018, Uson, while still with the Presidential Communications Operations Office, was sued for allegedly spreading misinformation through a November 2016 post that says students from St. Scholastica's College were required to attend a protest rally.
The NBI was ordered by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to investigate COVID-19-related "fake news." Lorenzo previously said the cybercrime division is on the lookout for posts that tend to "disrupt public order."
The bureau earlier summoned a private citizen who made a Facebook post purportedly about the government purchasing a P2-billion jet instead of providing healthcare for Filipinos. —KG, GMA News
