NOBODY seems to get it except the President who appointed Mocha Uson as Assistant Secretary for Social Media to the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
When voices were raised in disgust over the latest blog made by ASEC Uson showing a controversial jingle and dance video on federalism, the people learned through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque that President Duterte was “cool” about the latest Uson brouhaha.
The President was not angry, he was not outraged nor equally disgusted when the Uson video was shown to him but “he was cool,” is what Roque said.
Perhaps the President by being cool about the whole thing is in itself a revelation about what ASEC Uson is actually doing in government and her actual role in the Duterte administration.
Isn’t it possible that ASEC Uson is being retained in government by the President for the purpose of providing comic relief for when things get serious?
Perhaps the President already knows in hindsight that whatever Mocha does will certainly capture the attention of the public and that more often than not it will be her failings that will surely be put in the spotlight. And perhaps it is precisely this comedy of errors frequently committed by ASEC Uson which the President is counting on to provide the needed distraction to the otherwise serious and gargantuan concerns which his administration is facing and challenging head on.
Let it not be said that the President, for all his cuss words and threats to kill somebody, is without any sense of humor. Certainly a wise leader knows not only how to lead his subjects but also how to entertain them.
Let us remember that Mocha Uson before becoming an ASEC under the PCOO is singer, dancer, model, actress and blogger. She is therefore an entertainer and may be that is what the President wanted when he hired her to work in government, that is provide comedic relief to the masses from time to time and when needed.
As the President had said through his Spokesperson Harry Roque he believed that ASEC Uson might have had “good intentions” when she posted her criticized video blog entry but added that there should be “substantive discussions” about federalism. There you go, what the president may have really been implying is that Mocha’s unsolicited and unilateral depiction of federalism is just entertainment or an intermission number and should not even be taken into consideration in the serious discourse about federalism. The president may have also been implying that Mocha’s action was simply for amusement and nothing else.
For all her faults and tactless ways ASEC Uson should remain in government and public service. Not as someone who can be relied on to handle serious public concerns such as the delivery of vital public service but simply to deliver the needed amusement and entertainment when needed. For that is what she excels at.
In the middle ages, a jester or fool is a regular and constant member of the court of the king.