There’s really no escaping the internet.
Over the weekend, as photos of presidential granddaughter Isabelle Duterte’s pre-birthday photo shoot in Malacañang continued to be talked about online, a satirical Facebook page called Malacañang Events and Catering Services poking fun at the presidential palace went viral.
It has since been taken down but was given new life on Twitter and what its admins call a “back-up” Facebook page.
For those who are just finding out about this now, the original Facebook page was basically a living meme complete with promotional posters and thinly veiled customer “reviews” that criticized the administrations’ human rights abuses.
The Facebook page also shared a “menu” the Malacañang could “serve” filled with dishes that describe the country’s current political climate. Are you ready for some puns and alliterations? Menu items include:
Pasta Pasisita (Fascist Pasta)
Dinuguang Adik (Bloodied addict, a dark spin on the local delicacy blood stew)
Impeached Mango Pie
Martial Lomi (noodles)
Shabu Shabu
Many found Isabelle’s photos that show off the presidential seal as an inappropriate use of the palace. It sparked criticism online and this Facebook page is just one example of how some Filipinos are expressing their thoughts.
The Twitter account @MalacananEvents and the new Facebook page @MalacanangEvents2 have similar content to the original iteration. The new Facebook page now has 126 “reviews,” most of which are critical of the government.
Over the weekend, Isabelle also took to Twitter to call out her detractors.
“I hope you do something useful with the freedom you are given, other than making hateful comments and carry so much unnecessary weight on your shoulders. I hope you will find the maturity to focus on more alerting issues and not on a 17 year old girl, Try to be useful,” Isabelle’s tweet read.
While some found this to be a valid explanation, some thought it was out of touch and insensitive.
Even with negative reactions from Filipinos, President Rodrigo Duterte still defended his granddaughter and said that there is nothing wrong with what she did.
“Come on. She is my blood. That’s a small matter, she only used Malacañang. I was not even there. But even if I was there, my granddaughter just had her photos taken, every visitor does that,” he said yesterday during boxer and Senator Manny Pacquiao’s birthday party in General Santos City.
Although visitors usually do take photos in Malacañang, the president did not acknowledge the huge difference between a few selfies and a full-blown photo shoot.
Isabelle is the daughter of Duterte’s son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. She was criticized in September after photos of her lavish lifestyle circulated online.
