Mocha Uson to resign if Trillanes wins case but if the senator loses, he should quit

  MANILA – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed on Friday seven criminal and administrative charges at the Ombudsman Office against Philippine Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Margaux "Mocha" Uson for spreading "fake news" that he had offshore bank accounts. In filing the administrative case, Trillanes – a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte – said he will seek the "immediate dismissal" of Uson, who is an entertainer by profession and a blogger before she joined the government. Talking to reporters after he filed the cases, Trillanes said: "This morning, we filed various cases against Ms. Mocha Uson. These are a total of seven cases - one administrative case for grave misconduct and six criminal cases." Trillanes filed three counts of cyberlibel; a case for the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for using her government position to cause undue harm; a case for the violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Ethics for Public Employees and Officials for the continued practice of her profession as an entertainer in a bar at the Resorts World Manila; a case for the falsification of documents; and an administrative charge for grave misconduct. "The era of fake news is over. Those who spread fake news will answer to the law. That is what everyone has to learn," said Trillanes. In reaction to the cases filed against Uson, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella emphasized that Malacañang is not into spreading fake news and that Trillanes is free to sue Uson. There was no comment from Uson, who is in New York attending the UN General Assembly (UNGA), but Uson had dared Trillanes to go ahead when she was told that the senator would sue her. She also said in her Facebook account "Mocha Uson Blog" that she will resign if Trillanes wins but if he loses, the senator should quit. Uson was accused by Trillanes of posting photos of his supposed bank accounts in Singapore on her social media account. Earlier, President Duterte echoed Uson's claims about Trillanes's supposed offshore bank account but later admitted that he "invented" the information after Trillanes disproved the allegations by flying to Singapore and checking it with the banks where the senator allegedly held accounts. Meanwhile, Abella said Malacañang was not into spreading fake news. "It's clear we don't do stuff like that. We stand on the platform of integrity of communication. Do we sanction (people spreading fake news)? No, I don't think so," he told reporters. Uson, for her part, had asked Trillanes to google the words "alleged" and "allegedly," apparently to point out that she used these words when she posted details of supposed offshore accounts being linked to Trillanes on her Facebook page. But libel laws state that the use of the words "alleged" and "allegedly" is not a defense against libel since malice may have been involved in the use of the words. Marlon Anthony Tonson of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance told Verafiles.org: "The courts will only take into consideration the context of how these words are used, and always in reference to the entire news report or published statement." 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