BLOGGER MOCHA Uson stirred controversy online when she shared a picture of Matanglawin Ateneo’s lampoon issue “MOCHANG TANGA BLOG,” asking if it was being passed around the Ateneo.

Uson published the post on October 14 and it has garnered more than 7,000 shares and 3,000 comments as of writing.

According to Matanglawin’s rejoinder post on the same day, the MOCHANG TANGA BLOG was “Tanganglawin,” the publication’s annual satirical issue.

Following this, Uson posted another update with a screenshot of Matanglawin Editor-in-Chief Rambo Talabong’s work information posted on his Facebook that read that he was also an intern at Rappler.

Uson insinuated that this was Rappler’s way of “attacking her” in light of her criticism of the way Rappler reports.

The same evening this second update was posted, Matanglawin released a statement on their Facebook page on the whole matter in general. They reinforced the function of the satire piece and accused MOCHA USON BLOG of erroneous use of social media and cyberbullying Talabong.

In the spotlight

Many of Uson’s followers instead bashed the Atenean community itself. Uson posted a comment defending Ateneans when she heard that the issue was being secretly distributed around the campus.

“Patago daw na pinamimigay. Kasama ng ibang reading material ng school mismo. Wag po natin lahatin ang mga Atenista. Naniniwala ako madami diyan ang mahal nila bayan natin. Tulad na din ng ibang mga kaibigan ko. Meron lang talagang iilang tinatamaan ng pagbabago ni Pangulo kaya ganyan maka react (I heard that the issue is being secretly distributed, along with other reading materials of the school. Let’s not generalize the Ateneans. I believe that many of them love our nation, just like my other friends. There are just some few that feel targeted by our president’s changes, and so that’s why they react),” she said in her comment.

This, in turn, was corrected by many Ateneans who commented that the issue was being mass distributed in the campus.

According to Talabong, Tanganglawin aims to give readers information the organization believes they need concerning issues that cater to the marginalized.

“Through satire, we hope to give a variety of content delivery in the Ateneo while still maintaining the same objectives of journalism: to inform,” he said.

Mocha targets Mata

On October 16, Uson posted another update consisting of a screenshot of Talabong’s work information as Editor-in-Chief of Matanglawin and as an intern of Rappler, along with a proposed theory that Rappler was attacking her through the Tanganglawin. This screenshot was the only form of information given to her.

“Could this be one of the reasons why I was used as front of matanglawin’s satire? You know that I’m one of the people criticizing rappler’s way of reporting. So ito ba ang way nila ng pag-atake sa akin pabalik na hindi ginagamit mismo ang rappler (So is this their way of getting back at me, someone who doesn’t even use Rappler)?” her post read.

Matanglawin took Uson’s post as a surprise as they did not expect her to react as she did if ever she were to obtain information about the publication.

“It’s crazy that she judged the whole publication based on the photo of the cover,” Talabong said.

Talabong also noted that after they posted a rejoinder towards Uson’s post, the comments section comprised of people who defended the publication.

“When we published a clarification of it as a lampoon, the comments section was dominated not by the bashers, but by the supporters of the issue, the publication, and the Ateneo,” he said.

As for Uson’s posting of the link to Talabong’s Facebook profile, the latter said that although the post was “baseless” to begin with, he felt that it was “quite tricky” to deal with since she provided the link to her 4M followers. When a friend of his informed him of the post, he immediately set his profile to private before Uson’s followers were able to contact him.

For Talabong, the fact that the publication was able to garner the reactions it did establishes that their project was a success.

“To us, it just completes the project of the satire, that those who read it at face value end up being identified and in the end realize that they need to read the whole thing, just as how many only read headlines these days in social media,” he added.

Official statement

Matanglawin released a statement on its official Facebook account rejecting Uson’s claim that Talabong’s internship in Rappler influenced his political stance.

“Walang isang ideolohiyang ibinabandila ang publikasyon, at layon din nito na ilantad ang iba’t ibang sakit ng lipunan sa isang mapayapa at mapanghamon na paraan (There is no ideology brandished by the publication, and its only purpose is to expose the different illnesses of society in a free and confrontational manner),” the statement read.

The publication called on Uson to take down the post targeting Talabong, calling it a form of cyberbullying.

“Ang paglalantad ng personal na impormasyon nang walang pahintulot mula sa taong nagmamay-ari nito ay isang anyo ng cyberbullying at paglabag ng kalayaan sa pamamahayag na inimandato ng pambansang konstitusyon (The disclosure of personal information without the permission of the owner is a form of cyberbullying and a violation of the freedom of journalists mandated by the Constitution),” the statement read.

The publication chastised Uson for not verifying sources first before posting, opting to post online in order to confirm issues submitted to her. Matanglawin called on her to exhaust all sources first before posting on social media.

“Hindi tama at hindi maayos na paraan ang paghingi ng sagot mula sa mga tagasubaybay sapagkat pawang mga spekulasyon at pang-aatake lamang ang ibubunga nito (It is not right to survey your followers for verification because these posts are mere speculation and this will only lead to conflict),” Matanglawin said.