EXPLAIN IT to the Ombudsman.

That was the message of Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV to Esther Margaux “Mocha” J. Uson, assistant secretary for social media of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), on Friday, Sept. 22, after he filed criminal and administrative charges against her before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint filed by Mr. Trillanes, one of the most vocal and staunch critics of the President, includes administrative charges for grave misconduct, anti-graft and corrupt practices act for using her position to cause undue harm to another party, violation of Republic Act 6713 Code of Ethics for her continued practice of her profession, violation of the Revised Penal Code, specifically for using falsified documents, and three counts of the cybercrime offense of libel.

“Apparently kailangan niya ng magagaling na abogado dahil mabibigat itong kasong ifinile namin (She needs a good lawyer because the cases we filed are serious),” Mr. Trillanes said to the media after filing the complaints.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte had previously accused Mr. Trillanes of maintaining offshore bank accounts, which was also reported by Ms. Uson along with journalists Erwin Tulfo and Ben Tesiorna on their respective online platforms.

In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Duterte admitted that he “invented” one particular bank account to mislead Mr. Trillanes, who had by then visited DBS Bank in Singapore to prove the non-existence of the alleged account.

Mr. Trillanes pointed out that the number of the bank account that the President gave and the bank account mentioned by Ms. Uson are different, but neither exist.

The senator added that he also included a cybercrime offense of libel in his complaints because of Ms. Uson’s online post.

Ms. Uson, currently in New York as part of the Philippine delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, has yet to issue a reply on the charges.

However, in a video posted on the Mocha Uson Blog dated Sept. 12, she defended that she used the word “alleged” on the posting about Mr. Trillanes. She also dared him to file a legal case.

“Unang-una paki-google po ang ibig sabihin ng alleged or allegedly dahil mahilig naman kayong mag-Google Mr. Senator Trillanes. Pangalawa, ituloy mo ang kaso. Hinahamon kita. Kung mananalo ka magre-resign ako. Ngunit kung matalo ka, ikaw ang mag-resign. At kung hindi mo itutuloy ang kaso, wala kang bayag (First off, please Google the meaning of alleged or allegedly since you are fond of Googling Mr. Senator Trillanes. Second, go on, file the case. I challenge you. If you win, I will resign. If you lose, you should resign. And if you don’t file the case, it means that you don’t have balls).”

Mr. Trillanes said he is also studying the charges he would file against Mr. Tulfo. — Mario M. Banzon

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