Vice President Leni Robredo is surprised but thankful that Office of the President Assistant Communications Secretary Mocha Uson included her name in a poll asking Twitter users about their preferred replacement for rejected Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, a survey that Robredo led with 81 percent of 16,432 votes.
Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy captured six percent of the votes, followed by former congresswoman Nikki-Prieto Teodoro, with two percent. Eleven percent of the votes went to other suggested candidates for the government post.
“Medyo nagulat ako na sinama niya ‘yong pangalan ko (I was a bit surprised that she included my name there),” Robredo said on her radio show Sunday when asked about the Twitter poll posted on Uson’s account three days earlier.
“Nagpapasalamat na din tayo kay Asec. Mocha Uson, sa pagpapakita siguro na may tiwala na puwede tayong humawak ng ganiyang kabigat na puwesto. Pero mas malaki sigurong pagpapasalamat sa mga nagpahayag na ako iyong preference nila, kasi pagpapakita na tinitiwalaan tayo sa ganitong larangan. Nabalitaan ko pa lang po iyang noong nakaraang araw, kaya medyo nagulat po tayo, at nagpapasalamat tayo (We thank Asec. Mocha Uson, who showed faith that we could handle such an important post. But perhaps, bigger thanks should go to those who signified that I was their preference, because it shows that we are trusted when it comes to these things. I only learned about it recently, so I was a bit surprised, and thankful too),” the Vice President said.
Uson had been vocal about her aversion to Robredo on her social media accounts, on Friday casting doubt on the results of the Twitter poll by writing on her Facebook page: “Ang resulta na ito ay nagpapatunay lamang ng ang mga dilawan ay organisado. Noong unang mga oras ng paglabas ng poll hindi po nangunguna si Leni. Ngunit makalipas ang ilang oras bigla-bigla itong tumaas at ni-retweet ng mga poser accounts. Hindi ko po sinasabi na ang entire poll ay binoto ng mga fake accounts ni Leni pero ito ay sabay sabay ni-retweet ng mga fake accounts at ito naman ay ni-replayan ng mga followers nito. Ganito po sila ka-organized sa Twitter. Doon mo talaga malalaman na united ang mga dilawan upang labanan at idiscredit ang ating pamahalaan (These results just show that the yellows are organized. In the first hours after the poll went live, Leni wasn’t leading. But a few hours passed and it went up steadily after being retweeted by poser accounts. I’m not saying that the entire poll was colored by Leni’s fake accounts, but it was simultaneously retweeted by fake accounts, which their followers replied to. This is how organized they are on Twitter. That’s how you know the Yellows are united to fight against and to discredit our government).”
She implied that if she had created the poll on Facebook instead, Robredo’s supporters would be outnumbered because it was more difficult to create troll accounts on Facebook.
Uson also called upon her fellow supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte to “wake up” and stop their intramurals on social media.
“Dahil kung hindi, tayo ay matatalo sa laban para sa tunay na pagbabago na ating hinahangad (Because if not, we will lost the battle for the true change that we hope for),” she said.
