Former VP Binay says, “Sometimes, the truth hurts” amid PTV-4’s #DutertePalpak gaffe
- Former VP Jejomar Binay weighed in on PTV-4’s #DutertePalpak gaffe and the station’s plan to punish the person responsible
- Binay is calling on PTV-4 to forego punishment for the employee as he or she was only sharing the “sentiments of many Filipinos”
- The former government official, who was also a human rights advocate when he was still active in his law practice, said there is still freedom of expression even in a government TV station
- The former VP ended his statement, saying, “Sometimes the truth hurts”
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Former Vice President Jejomar Binay is calling on PTV-4 to waive punishment for the employee responsible for the #DutertePalpak gaffe on the station’s official Twitter account.
On Tuesday night, the station’s official Twitter account posted a tweet reiterating President Duterte’s order to give away free face masks to the public.
However, whether intentional or unintentional, the post showed the President’s surname as #DutertePalpak.
According to Rappler, the tweet also contained the acronym of what could be a reference to the popular South Korean boy band, BTS.
The original tweet read: “President Rodrigo R. #dutertepalpak BTS reiterated his order to provide free masks for the public especially to those who cannot buy their own.”
The post was taken down a few moments later, but not after some eagle-eyed users took screenshots of the tweet and shared it on social media, taking various platforms by storm.
In a Manila Bulletin report, former VP Binay defended the person who posted the #DutertePalpak hashtag on PTV-4's Twitter account as he or she was just expressing the sentiments of many Filipinos.
"And this may sound familiar to many, but the people deserve more than manhid at palpak governance," the former VP said in a statement, which was released Tuesday.
PTV apologizes for using the hashtag #dutertepalpak on tweet regarding President's edict to provide free masks
According to a report by the Inquirer, People’s Television Network or PTV has since apologized for the tweet, explaining that the hashtag “#DutertePalpak” was a product of “predictive systems in the text entry phase and a failure to adequately review and screen the message that actually got posted.”
The station warned that the person or persons behind the post will face disciplinary actions.
“PTV New Media deeply regrets the error and takes full responsibility for the oversight. The management will certainly institute disciplinary actions against members of the social media team who are behind the erroneous posting,” PTV-4, in a statement, said.
Critics use the “#DutertePalpak” hashtag to mark the year since many places in the country were placed under community quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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People's Television Network or PTV-4 is the flagship state media owned by the Government of the Philippines. Founded in 1974, PTV is the main brand of People's Television Network, Inc. (PTNI), an attached agency under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). PTV, along with sister media companies Radio Philippines Network and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, and radio network Philippine Broadcasting Service, forms the media arm of the PCOO.
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In 2016, newly-designated Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCCO) Secretary Martin Andanar revealed that teams from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) visited the country to help make the government-run channel gain editorial independence. He also revealed then the plans to establish a “broadcasting hub” in Mindanao.
Last year, a social media post of a PTV-4 host stating that the government is full of unregularized employees may have irked a government official. He pointed out that to argue that ABS-CBN's franchise cannot be renewed because it has unregularized employees is hypocritical considering that there are many unregularized employees in the government. He actually said that perhaps, it's a wake-up call for the industry to treat employees better but called for not using it as a reason for the non-renewal of the franchise. The host recently posted about bidding his home network goodbye and held on to his principles.
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Source: KAMI.com.gh