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[av_heading heading=’Trillanes slaps criminal, admin raps vs Mocha ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV filed criminal and administrative charges against Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson at the Office of the Ombudsman.
Trillanes filed six criminal charges and one administrative complaint for grave misconduct against Uson for, among others, allegedly spreading the “fake news” that he owned offshore bank accounts.
The criminal charges are as follows:
- three counts of violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act for libel
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one count each for violation of the Anti-Graft and Practices Act, violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and falsification and use of false documents.
“The era of fake news is over. Lahat ng magkakalat ng fake news ngayon ay mananagot sa ating batas. ‘Yan ang dapat matutunan ng lahat ng nagkakalat ng fake news,” said Trillanes.
The senator said the cyber libel charges he filed against Uson stemmed from the latter’s shared post on her Mocha Uson Blog Facebook page, which alleged that the senator had a secret bank account in Singapore.
“For senior government officials, we have a higher standard. The truthfulness of the information should have been verified before it was shared. Let this be a lesson not only to Ms. Mocha Uson but also to those who share fake news,” said Trillanes.
The graft case, meanwhile, is for Uson’s using of her position to cause undue harm to another party, according to the senator.
She also violated Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for continuing her other profession – as an entertainer – even if she was already a public official, said Trillanes.
Trillanes is also seeking the immediate dismissal from service of Uson in his administrative complaint.
Aside from Uson, Trillanes will also file libel charges against radio commentator Erwin Tulfo, who also shared the post, and CNN Philippines stringer Ben Tersiona for spreading the fraudulent report about his alleged offshore bank accounts./PN
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