An old Facebook post of Miss Universe Philippines 2020 second runner-up Michele Gumabao surfaced anew after she became a second nominee of a party-list led by controversial blogger Mocha Uson.
The volleyball star on Friday filed her Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance for the Mothers For Change (MOCHA) eponymous party-list together with Uson, who is the first nominee.
“I’ve always said I would use the platform I was given to advocate and be a voice for women and the youth. This is for every mother who sacrificed for us to be here right now. This is for those who made the choice to care and nurture others. For every woman who wants to be an author of change!” Michele wrote on Instagram.
“Party-lists are created for those who share the same advocacy and we want to work for a chance to help more people and make a bigger impact in our community,” she added, tagging Uson.
Uson during the CONA filing was endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte himself who raised her arm during the event.
According to her, the MOCHA party-list aims to represent mothers who are sick, those who have been abandoned and abused, single mothers, teenage mothers, mothers working as overseas Filipino workers, unmarried women fulfilling motherly duties and women who want to be a “mother of change.”
Last July, Gumabao was tapped as an ambassadress of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict which has made previous headlines for red-tagging personalities like Angel Locsin and Liza Soberano.
Meanwhile, her initiative to join the MOCHA party-list drew flak from some Instagram users who questioned the move.
“I am disappointed. I can’t contain my disbelief,” a user wrote in the comments section of Gumabao’s post.
“Kaloka ka teh,” another Instagram user wrote with a vomiting emoji.
Others brought up Gumabao’s 2018 Facebook post where she shared her views on fake news, months before joining Miss Globe that year where she finished as a top 15 finalist.
“We should all be advocates against fake news! With the power of media, we should be responsible and diligent in our words and in expressing our opinion,” she wrote before.
“It’s not just the government and media that have to be mindful of this, we should all commit ourselves to speaking, posting and sharing only the TRUTH! No to cyberbullying, no to fake news and no to shaming! It starts with us!” Gumabao added.
Her post has earned 5,700 likes and reactions, 1,100 comments and 1,400 shares on the social networking platform as of this writing as Filipinos resurface her stance amid associating with Uson.
“Oh talaga ba?” Peter Leary “Sycris” Brown, finalist of It’s Showtime’s “I Am PoGay” segment before, commented on Sunday.
“Tapos nasa party-list ng charotera. The cognitive dissonance gurl!” another Facebook user exclaimed.
“Character (un)development. Jusq (Jusko) ka, Mars. We kenat (cannot),” wrote a different Filipino.
Uson, who is now the deputy administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, has a verified Facebook page known for spreading false claims and propaganda.
Last year, one of her page administrators shared a fake post in an attempt to smear the name of Vice President Leni Robredo.
The Facebook page also resurfaced old claims that Sen. Risa Hontiveros is supposedly connected to PhilHealth corruption as a former board member. It has been debunked in 2018.
Uson has likewise shared fake posts about a Brazilian girl, an extrajudicial killing victim and the 1987 Philippine Constitution before.
