Mocha Uson has accompanied the president, covered and attended events and “scheduled visits to different government agencies,” according to her job description, duties and 2017 accomplishments released by the Presidential Communications Operations Office.
Photos of the document had circulated on social media in the first week of July, with many people commenting that Uson’s monthly salary of at least P133,454 — without tax deductions — seemed too high for her duties.
Accomplishments list lacks results
People commented that Uson’s list of accomplishments seemed stale because they were no proactive keywords or verbs indicating substantial results.
They noticed that most her of accomplishments consisted of the words “accompanied,” “attended” and “covered.”
Facebook user Henri Ching noted that Uson should have a “results-based evaluation” instead, where the results of her works are indicated — not just its implementation.
“After doing these ‘accomplishments’, what were the effects? Based on these results, IF ANY, should she still go on and do the same things? Or change plans? Should she still continue to accompany everyone? Best in accompaniment,” he wrote.
The document was requested on Jan. 26, 2018 by Jerreme Gerolaga through the government’s Freedom of Information website or FOI.
Gerolaga said that Uson “has been bashed by many Anti-Duterte trolls or real people about her position and her work. I think this may be because they don’t know why she has been appointed as ASec and for all I know her appointment was because of her 5M followers in social media and through her it expands the reach of PCOO.”
“But it is much better to know her Job Description in black and white copy. I am a Duterte supporter and a follower of Mocha Uson,” he said.
On Feb. 15, 2018, Kristian Ablan, assistant secretary and FOI decision maker, approved the request and attached Uson’s job description and her accomplishments for 2017, along with PCOO’s Department Order 13 that listed the “Creation of the Social Media Office (SMO).”
Uson’s duties: The real deal
SMO is under the Office of the Secretary. In summary, SMO’s function is to create social media content for PCOO, as well as analyze online campaigns and coordinate social media messages.
It is headed by the PCOO’s assistant secretary of social media, Mocha Uson.
Her duty, along with the staff of SMO, is to create content for the social media page of PCOO, which has been criticized for its numerous errors. In fact, even the Embassy of Sweden took note of the infamous “Norwegia” mistake.
PCOO is supposed to be a “vehicle of understanding for a well-informed and enlightened citizenry,” according to its vision.
Uson earns P106,454 as her gross salary, P20,000 as her monthly representation and transportation allowance, P2,000 as her monthly personal economic relief allowance and P5,000 as her monthly extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses.
Furthermore, Uson is required to receive a mid-year and a year-end bonus that is equivalent to a monthly salary.
On top of that, the PCOO assistant secretary is entitled to a yearly clothing allowance of P5,000 and a cash gift worth P5,0000.
Assistant secretaries of government offices receive a salary grade of level 29 or a monthly gross salary of at least P128,467.