Mocha Uson

By Leonardo Micua

 

PCOO Undersecretary Mocha Uson just proved she’s a lot smarter than her critics, including a few (tsk, tsk, tsk) even from her own office, when she announced her resignation in the middle of the hearing on PCOO’s 2019 budget at the Senate.

To me, the resignation of Mocha, who is from Dagupan and the daughter of my good friends, the martyred Regional Trial Court Judge Oscar “Gary” Uson and the former Esther Justiniano of Bulacan, came as no surprise at all, as this was bound to happen.

Remember, Mocha, who is a former entertainer turned government official, had made no secret about her inclination to run for the senate and this could be the appropriate time to resign and give her the space to think it over, with only a few days before the start of filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s election.

If indeed she enters the senate race (or is it the congressional race in Manila where she now resides or in the home province of her mother Esther?), then today, not tomorrow is the opportune time to leave the government and prepare for a future that she has set for herself.

She was doing well as an entertainer as head of the famous Mocha Girls, that volunteered to campaign for then candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, gratis et amore.

Anyway, she is being considered as one of the seven in the Duterte administration to seek senate seats. The list includes Special Assistant to the President Lawrence Bong Go,  Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque as well as Presidential Adviser Francis Tolentino and former PNP Chief and now Bureau of Corrections Director Ronald ‘Bato’ De la Rosa.

Since all these will also surely resign from their respective posts once they file their respective COCs, so what’s the fuss over Mocha’s resignation when she simply beat other officials in the Duterte cabinet to the draw by being the first to resign.

With Mocha as one of the candidates of the president’s party, PDP Laban or of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago, the political party organized by presidential daughter Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, she will stand out as the only senatorial bet from Pangasinan, and which many know is the third biggest voting province in the country after Cebu and Cavite in that order with a voting population of nearly two million now.

A possible fall back for Mocha in case she changes her mind on running for senator is for her to run for congress but no politician here should get nervous because she is not a registered voter here but possibly in Manila or  Bulacan.

Let’s get this straight. I am not campaigning for Mocha but don’t you think it is about time that Pangasinan should again be represented in the Senate. Since after the late Senator Letty Shahani graduated from that august chamber in 1998, we were no longer  represented there.

Save for Mocha who undoubtedly has the blessing of her Tatay Digong to try her luck for a senate seat, no other politician from Pangasinan today seems capable and has the needed clout to run a national campaign than the daughter of Dagupan. whose real name is Esther Margaux  ‘Mocha’ Uson.

But unlike other prospective senatorial candidates, Mocha has not made her rounds in Pangasinan yet, nor even visited the city where she was born and got her early education. But when finally she comes as a candidate, she will likely be welcomed with open arms by the people, knowing also that she brings with her the national agenda of President Digong.

I once had a huddle with Mocha’s uncle Bobby at Goldilocks at CSI Lucao and he told me he and relatives are just waiting for her go-signal to say she’s running.

I shudder at the thought o f Mocha’s vow to use her popular blog followed by millions here and abroad to crush her tormentors, among them congressmen and senators. The impact of her threat will certainly be felt in the days ahead. Watch for it.

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The recent call to all mayors by the DILG for them to ban foot-driven tricycles, including motorized tricycles in order to unclog all national highways is long overdue. It should have been done by past administrations. 

But this should again be thoroughly studied because without an alternative from the government, it may severely hurt the finances of  drivers and operators as well as the convenience of commuters who rely on tricycles for their mobility. 

When one is restrained to earn an honest living, he has to find other sources of incomes in order to feed his family. Finding no income, he will be vulnerable to criminal syndicates who will entice him to peddle drugs. 

I agree that pedicabs must be confined to ply only along small streets but what about the motorized tricycles given franchise by local governments? Banning them from the national highways could be considered a violation to their franchise. This could foment deep resentment from the very people whom government seeks to serve.

Don’t you think that in this era of soaring inflation and high prices, the government cannot afford to create more enemies? Enforcing it today would be like rubbing salt  to an injury.

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