PTV apologizes for #DutertePalpak tweet

The People’s Television Network (PTV) apologized this Wednesday after using the hashtag #DutertePalpak in a post on their official Twitter account.

On Tuesday night, the Twitter account of the state television network shared an article about President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to provide free face masks to the public.

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The post includes the hashtag #DutertePalpak, which netizens use to criticize the administration’s alleged failure in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The admin of PTV’s social media account deleted the controversial tweet, followed by a message that they would investigate the intention behind the allegedly malicious post.

In another statement this Wednesday morning, PTV explained that this was due to Twitter’s autocorrection in writing the tweet, which was also allegedly not reviewed or checked before the social media team finally posted.

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PTV claimed responsibility for the #DutertePalpak mistake and said it would discipline those who failed.

Earlier, Malacañang defended the government’s response to the pandemic despite comments due to the continued rise of new COVID-19 cases.

PTV apologizes for #DutertePalpak tweet

According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, newer and more contagious coronavirus variants are the cause of the swelling of those with COVID-19, not the alleged government misfortune.

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Roque also clarified that President Rodrigo Duterte did not underestimate the impact of the pandemic on Filipinos when he used the term “maliit na bagay (small thing)” on the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Hindi minamaliit ng President ang paghihirap ng sambayanan. Ang sinasabi po niya, babangon po tayo, at malapit na po ‘yan at parating na ang mga bakuna,” Roque explained at the Palace briefing on Tuesday.

On Monday, Duterte announced in his televised address that, “Kaya natin ito. Itong COVID-19, maliit na bagay lang ito. Madami tayong nadaanan. Huwag kayong matakot, hindi ko kayo iwanan.”

According to Roque, what Duterte wants to say is that the pandemic is only temporary and will pass.

“Ang sinasabi ng Presidente, patuloy naman pong nabubuhay ang Pilipinas sa gitna ng COVID. Ikinalulungkot natin ang mga nawalan ng trabaho, namatay pero by and large, ang sinasabi niya ay compared with other countries,” Roque added.