An office under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) is asking Presidential Communications Mocha Uson to take a leave following her controversial video about federalism.
Harold E. Clavite, director-general of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), asked Uson to publicly apologize for the controversial clip and think about the matter while she’s on leave.
“On the heels of PCOO Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson’s latest blunder on the administration’s campaign to push for federalism, a public apology from the PCOO official is paramount. Along this line is a call for her to take a leave of absence to reflect on these matters,” he wrote.
Clavite also described Uson and Olivar’s actions as an “insult to our profession in communication and public information”. He also said that it was “degrading to the women and mothers in our communities”.
“I have served alongside PCOO and all its attached agencies under the good leadership of Secretary Martin Andanar, and as far as I’m concerned, Ms. Uson’s actions since her appointment have time and again proven to be in poor taste – a display of an utter lack of judgment and have maligned our profession as government communicators.
“I speak out on this issue to give value to the massive man-hours my office, the Philippine Information Agency, had spent on providing capability and capacity building trainings, seminars, and workshops to all our stakeholders in public information on the ground; to give value to the hard work of PCOO’s attached agencies,” he further said.
The PIA executive also said in his post that he wants to defend the “integrity and intelligence of all government information officers, volunteers, and partners… across the nation”.
“As a public servant and being part of the PCOO family, I take great offense in Ms. Uson’s actions, which continuously damages the rectitude of my communication and public information agenda. I can no longer let her obscure and vilify my honest work in helping the President, this government, and this country, as well as the efforts that we have painstakingly and patiently put into place under my leadership in PIA for the past two years,” he said.
He ended his post by saying that: “It is about time that someone speaks up and hold erring officials accountable for repeatedly tarnishing the reputation of our government”.
