President Duterte has appointed former Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” J. Uson as the new deputy executive director V (deputy administrator) of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
A list of new presidential appointees released by Malacañang on Monday showed that Uson was appointed to her new post last September 23. However, her appointment paper was only released on September 26.
During the budget deliberations of PCOO at the Senate in October 2018, Uson announced her resignation which was prompted by the move of some opposition lawmakers to delay the PCOO budget approval because of Uson’s absence in the budget deliberations.
Uson was involved in some past controversies during her stint in the PCOO. For several times, she was also bashed and called out for allegedly spreading “fake news” on social media.
Two months before she resigned from her post, Uson drew flak for posting a video on her personal blog featuring her cohost Drew Olivar singing and dancing to the lewd “pepe-dede-ralismo” jingle in a bid to promote federalism.
After the incident, PCOO released a memorandum reminding its officials and employees, including Uson, that they should be “mindful of the content they post or share” on their social-media accounts, as well as other publications and news releases their office may publish.
In an apparent reference to the controversial video, President Duterte said there are things which went “overboard” but pointed out that he respects her right to freedom of expression.
Before her appointment to the PCOO in May 2017, Uson, a blogger and entertainer who has since supported the President during his presidential campaign in 2016, also served as a board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board