Gabriela’s Political Slang: A Study of the Filipino’s Twitter Language

Interview Questions

Name (optional): kila

Age: 20

1. How frequent do you use Twitter? I usually visit my twitter app about once or twice a day.
2. Do you know some political slangs? Yes.
3. Define the meaning behind these widely used political slangs on Twitter in a negative or positive
notion.
SLANGS DEFINITIONS
malicious blacklisting of individuals without
Red tag
any evident proof
An individual/group of people who brings fear
Terorista
and terror to catch the governments’ attention
Before, it is usually referred to Davao Death
Squad that was known for relentlessly killing
Davao citizens favored by then Davao City
DDS Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. As of today, DDS was
referred to as “Duterte Diehard Supporter”
whose aim was to bring Duterte's good
reputation to the masses.
A metaphor used to describe a person who
foolishly follows a person’s beliefs. They would
also release a statement about something that
they want the masses to perceive. Recently,
Aso/Tuta
Aso/ tuta was widely used for Pres. Duterte’s
over-praised statements to China despite
ongoing territorial dispute to Spratly Islands
and Scarborough Shoal.
Refers to the group of people who supports the
Liberal Party led by the Aquinos. Today, the
Dilawan people who are opposing the government’s
antics are maliciously pointed out as Dilawan
without proof.
People who still believe in Late President
Marcos Apologist Marcos’ achievements despite enormous
receipts to its corrupt administration
To drive out Duterte from power. Twitter
users that are against the current
administration have been widely used this
#OustDuterte hashtag to promote awareness about daily
controversies, misconduct, human rights
violations, and the late response of the
government.
Du30 Pet name of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
 These are the people who are considered”
untouchable” due to power and wealth. They
cannot place themselves into other people's
Privileged
shoes that’s why they don’t have any remorse
nor empathy towards other people especially
those who are impoverished.
This hashtag is encouraging Filipino people to
#MasMaramiTayo vote as it is fundamental to one’s freedom from
marginalized society.
The hashtag has been popped out throughout
the internet especially on Twitter when the
anti-terror bill was prioritized amidst the
pandemic. It has been perceived to be an
alarming move by the government as criticism
#OustYouKnowWho
can be freely subjected to terrorism without
evidence. Thus, they coordinated the phrase
“you know who” referenced to the movie
Harry Potter, addressing villain Voldermort
that “ the name that should not bespeak of”.
Duts Pet name of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
Failhealth was coined to the Philippine
healthcare insurance Philhealth due to alleged
FailHealth
corrupted 15 billion by the “mafia” of
executive committee members.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
(PhilHealth), is a government corporation
under the mandate of the Universal Health
Care Act that aims to adopt a “health care
model that provides all Filipinos access to a
PhilHealth comprehensive set of quality and cost-effective,
promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative
and palliative health services without causing
financial hardship, and prioritizes the needs of
the population who cannot afford such
services”.
People or group of people that ignites hatred or
anger on the internet. They provoke people to
show remorse on the internet for their
Trolls amusement or their personal gain. They
usually use the most sensitive emotional
process of a person to manipulate a political
and personal view of a person.

4. How does political slang help political awareness?

It can help people connect to other people that have the same sentiment or opinion towards a
particular political view. However, it is being abused by groups of people that are aware of how
dangerous triggering malicious words to other people. Base on my personal experience, it can make a day
stressful as we cannot handle or resolve every political issue that can be seen on the internet.
5. Is Twitter an ideal platform for political awareness?
It can BE a platform for political awareness, but it is not ideal. A piece of valuable information
from Twitter doesn’t reach greater masses to whom might find a particular stand sensible. Sadly,
different political stands here in the Philippines have their own preferred media platforms. Mostly, the
generations ages 40 above only use Facebook as a social media platform so they only digest what has
been presented on the table. They are more likely prone to misinformation or commonly known as “fake
news”, as to the reason why there are still people who are not reasonable when it comes to an argument to
particular political aspects. They only showing hate and disgust without any reliable proof. In addition,
twitter is free, however, toxic community that can make an information modified by any users of it.My
advise is to regulate fact-checking before believing and spreading information to avoid misconceptions
and false accusations. It can spread like wildfire, so, as the saying goes, Think before you click.