President Rodrigo Duterte said that he respects what Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson posted on her Facebook page which offended Kris Aquino and resulted to a word war between the two ladies.
During the press conference at the inauguration of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2, the President confirmed that he sent his apologies to Kris Aquino after the talk show host informed Duterte about what Mocha did.
He also talked to Mocha about the matter, but the latter invoked her right to freedom of expression, so he decided not to force the government official to apologize.
“Yes totoo yun, I said to Bong tell the other one (Mocha) for the incident because she works for me sa Malacañan. I asked Mocha to apologize to Kris, but there’s a verbal tussle there. She invoked freedom of speech.” Duterte said.
“Who am I now to (stop her). I do not control my (workers) she has invoked a sacred right, yan pa ang sacred, that’s guanranteed under the constitution,”
Duterte said that he was not disappointed when she got disobeyed by Uson, saying that also need to respect the people from his camp as he respects the opposition.
“Kasi ako mismo, sinasabi ko na it’s your right to criticize me. As a matter of fact, any policeman who disagrees with me, because of this drug problem… You can criticize me even the garbage collector,” Duterte said.
Yesterday, Special Assistant to President Christopher “Bong” Go said to the press that Mocha “will apologize” to Kris Aquino, however, several hours after the press conference, Uson released a video saying that she’s not going to say sorry to the talk show host.
Go informed the media that Kris texted him, asking him to take some action for what Mocha did.
He was also informed by Kris that she’s going to endorse her if he really wanted to enter politics.
In her last live video about the issue, Kris Aquino also reminded Go about his promise to her.
“Nanawagan na lang ako sa isang taong nakinig sa akin… Sir Bong Go, alam kong aabot ito sa ‘yo. Hinihingi ko sa ‘yo ‘yung sinabi ko na ikaw lang ang may kapangyarihan na gawin ‘yon. Sana gawin mo, dahil umaasa ako sa’yo. Sana po pansinin ninyo,” Kris said in a Facebook live video broadcast on Wednesday
This statement from Go has been badly interpreted by several Duterte supporters, saying that the assistant of the President threw Mocha Uson under the bus in favor of Aquino.
“Stand down. The boss has spoken. And unlike you, he’s not throwing her under the bus.” Columnist Jojo Robles said in his post after hearing the statement of the president.
Mocha Uson is one of the most loyal supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign period.
Her blog which garnered millions of followers also helped Duterte to spread his message to the public.