Who would have thought that a state-run media outfit will be calling their president ‘palpak’?
That was the scenario Tuesday evening when PTV-4, the flagship broadcast network of the government used the hashtag #dutertepalpak.
Around 7 PM, the official Twitter account of PTV-4 shared a story about President Rodrigo Duterte wanting to give free face mask to the public, one year into the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enclosed in the said tweet was the hashtag #dutertepalpak that stayed online for about 40 minutes.
PTV released a statement that they are already investigating the ‘intent behind this malicious post’.
Despite the clarification of PTV-4, the damage has already been done as some notable news personality like columnist JC Punongbayan and former GMA reporter Marvin Tomandao has used the hashtag.
Aaah, finally…
Tax money well spent. 😂#DutertePalpak pic.twitter.com/rb8X2ErDyk— Marvin Tomandao (@marvintomandao) March 16, 2021
Ano ba kasi yang #DutertePalpak. Sino ba ang nagpa-uso niyang #DutertePalpak. Di ba nila alam na sa pamamagitan ng pagbanggit sa #DutertePalpak ay niyuyurakan nila ang pangalan ng poong #DutertePalpak, dahil di naman talaga siya #DutertePalpak?! https://t.co/osN48EVgpW
— JC Punongbayan (@jcpunongbayan) March 16, 2021