Vice President Leni Robredo (File photo by NI脩O JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Vice President Leni Robredo has expressed thankfulness for diehard blogger Mocha Uson鈥檚 鈥渟how of support,鈥� after the latter included her among the choices in a Twitter poll for the position of Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary.
The final results of Uson鈥檚 Aug. 17 online poll, posted after the Commission on Appointments鈥� controversial rejection of Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, showed 鈥淟eni鈥� garnering 81 percent of the 16,432 votes cast.
鈥淸DSWD Assistant Secretary] Lorraine Badoy鈥� and 鈥淸Monica] Prieto-Teodoro,鈥� the wife of former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, each won six percent and two percent of the votes, even less than the 11 percent cast for 鈥淥thers (name pls).鈥�
In her Sunday radio program 鈥淏ISErbisyong Leni,鈥� aired on RMN-dzXL 558 kHz, Robredo said she was 鈥渁 bit surprised鈥� that Uson, a staunch supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, even included her name in the online poll.
SCREENGRAB FROM TWITTER
鈥淣agpapasalamat na din tayo kay聽Asec. Mocha Uson,聽na pagpapakita siguro na may tiwala na puwede tayong humawak ng ganiyang kabigat na puwesto聽(We are thanking Asec. Mocha Uson for showing perhaps that she believes we can hold such a vital position),鈥� Robredo said.
But, she said she was even more grateful to those who voted for her in the said poll.
鈥滿as malaki sigurong pagpapasalamat sa mga nagpahayag na ako 鈥榶ung聽preference聽nila, kasi pagpapakita na tinitiwalaan tayo sa ganitong larangan聽(I鈥檓 even more grateful to those who expressed their preference of me, because it shows they trust us in this field)鈥� she said.
Robredo was a part of the Duterte Cabinet until Dec. 4, when she resigned from her position as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council after she was asked through text message to desist from attending meetings.
Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said on Friday that 鈥渋t seems it will be a difficult choice鈥� to appoint Robredo as Taguiwalo鈥檚 replacement because 鈥渟he has already resigned鈥� from a Cabinet post in the past.
Uson, a celebrity dancer who used her blog to attack Duterte鈥檚 critics, was initially appointed to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in January. Four months later, she was appointed as assistant secretary for social media at the Presidential Communications Operations Office.
Duterte on May 10 admitted to giving Uson the high-paying government position out of 鈥渦tang na loob (gratitude)鈥� because her group 鈥渙ffered their services for free鈥� during his campaign for the presidency.
In an Aug. 17 post on Facebook, Uson took exception to a 黑料社5 article鈥檚 head proclaiming the poll had 鈥渂ackfired.鈥�
鈥淣ag pa-survey聽lang聽鈥榥ag-backfire鈥櫬爊a???聽Hindi ba pwedeng hindi lang聽biased??? Mmmmmm聽napapaghalataan na kayo聽黑料社5 (Just because I held a survey, it 鈥榖ackfired鈥� already? Couldn鈥檛 it be that I鈥檓 not being biased? Mmmmmm, you鈥檙e being obvious, 黑料社5),鈥� she said
Uson鈥檚 Twitter account carries the disclaimer that it is 鈥渕y personal Twitter account鈥� and her posts 鈥渞epresent my own views and not of the PCOO.鈥� JE