Mocha as the next Senate star?

By Al S. Mendoza

 

FINALLY, Mocha Uson has resigned.  And her fans are grieving.

She announced it at the Senate hall this week, stepping aside as assistant secretary of the PCOO (Philippine Communications Office and Operations).

But unrelenting to the very end, the feisty Mocha said she did it as a supreme sacrifice.

“I am doing this so that our lawmakers would stop delaying the approval of the PCOO budget for 2019,” she said.

She said her blogs critical of several lawmakers hindered the signal for budget committee members to green light the PCOO outlay.

But in a typical Mocha style, the blogger’s farewell was marked by fighting words.

“Now that I am free from restrictions attached to my old position,” she said, “I can now write freely.  Tuloy ang suntukan.  Tuloy ang bakbakan.”

Risa Hontiveros did not buy Mocha’s reason for resignation.

“No, it is not about the PCOO budget,” the senator said.  “She will run for a political position.”

When asked about it, Mocha said:  “Maybe.  But I’m not sure yet whether I would run for Congress or the Senate.”

She was high in the early surveys among “senatoriables,” simply because she has become very popular.

Popularity is still the name of the game when it comes to politics.

Name recall they also call it.

Why do  you think Lito Lapid became a senator?

Voters only have the Lapid of the movies in their mind when they cast their vote.

Why do you think Ramon Revilla alias Nardong Putik became a senator?

Voters only have Nardong Putik on the silver screen in their mind when they cast their vote.

Why do you think Robert Jaworski became a senator?

Voters only have the Big J of basketball in their mind when they cast their vote.

And why do you think Bam Aquino became a senator?

Voters only have Ninoy Aquino in their mind when they cast their vote.

Pulse Asia’s Sept. 1-7 survey showed Grace Poe as No. 1 senator in the May 2019 election.

But the 1,800 respondents chose Mocha only as their 45th choice.

How can that be when Poe’s social media following was only 3.4 million compared to the 5.7 million of Mocha, who was born and raised in Dagupan City.

Agot Isidro, a Duterte critic, got an awareness rating of 84 percent compared to Mocha’s 63 percent.

But history is consistent that surveys are mostly incorrect, if not false all of the time.

Grace was hardly in the winner’s circle before she topped the senatorial election in 2013.

Tito Sotto was consistently No. 1 in the surveys of the 2016 senatorial elections but he placed “only” third behind—hold your breathe—Drilon and, uh-oh, Villanueva.

So, Mocha don’t despair.

Go, get them.  And become the next Senate star.

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