The issue allegedly began when Ureta made a joke about a serious government slogan during martial law.
“Noong nagumpisa ang martial law, sa TV every five minutes ata sinasabi na ‘Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan’. Takot na takot kami sa disiplinang kailangan,” he said.
He said it was actually one of the boys in the studio, and not him, who changed the slogan into “Sa Ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan’. But he repeated what he heard to a friend.
“Hindi akin yun, in fairness. So ikinuwento ko kay Bong Lapira. Sabi ko, 'Bong sabi nung bata, sa ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan.' So tawanan ng tawanan. Kumalat na yun,” he said.
He explained that at that time, anyone could get arrested and punished for rumor mongering.
“Ano raw? Si Ariel may sabi! Alam naman nilang di ako dadamputin kasi cute ako dati,” he said. “Actually, wala (punishment). Naipakalat lang nila na pinagbisikleta ako. But then at that time, it was cute. It was funny. Ok lang,” he said.