Defying the Deaf

Respect for other people is a core value of which people must maintain, what more for a
government employee?
On September 14, PCOO Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson and vlogger Drew Olivar
recently uploaded a 48-second video on Uson’s Facebook account. In the video captioned
“Pepedederalismo for Deaf People”, it shows Olivar making gestures in an effort to imitate deaf
people’s sign language in a mocking manner. Moreover, he continued to make squeaking noises
in exaggeration of the sounds the deaf and mute make when they try to speak.
Mocha Uson continues to laugh as she tells Olivar “Mukha kang unggoy!” which can
also be seen as an insult towards the deaf community. The video garnered outrage from the deaf
community and all sorts of netizens. A few days later, the video gained enough attention, even
reaching the ears of notable government officials. After hearing of this, several officials are
suggesting that Uson step down from her position for this controversial act.
Within a few days, Uson and Olivar uploaded videos wherein they apologize to the deaf
community for their mockery. Carolyn Dagani, president of the Philippine Federation of the
Deaf, says that their apologies were not enough to pay for ridiculing the deaf, but must also take
in some more punishment for their foolery.
For an official that works in service for the government, Uson should display a much
higher level of dignity and propriety despite being a “sex blogger” in the past. The video that she
had uploaded essentially shouts out that she lacks the maturity to have respect for the physically
challenged. That implies that she must also lack the qualification to work as a government
employee.
It is not only this video that justifies the idea of dismissing her. She has had multiple
cases of controversy that have led people to question her position in the government. She’s
attacked students of St. Scholastica’s College on social media, accused Senator Trillanes of
possessing hidden wealth, and has peddled several articles of fake news. There’s no doubt that
she has tattered her credibility, can it get any worse? Yes, it can.
When her name is mentioned, it is usually riddled with several wrongdoings, making her
a laughingstock. One thing that is not mentioned however are her accomplishments, of which she
barely has any. Her accomplishment reports are riddled with terms like “accompanied”,
“attended”, “scheduled visits”. These achievements are not nearly worth the salary that she takes
for her position.
Perhaps in the near future, even more people will realize the incompetence that Mocha
Uson has displayed just by lacking respect for the deaf. This respect is not difficult to give, for
any other decent person would know not to do such things. The disabled did not choose the
unfortunate path that they’re forced to tread upon. For them, this path is one of dread and
hardship, this justifies that no one has the right to belittle the unfortunate.