MANILA, Philippines – While others were posting New Year's messages online, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian exchanged heated tweets with curses and foul words on Twitter while he was in the United States a few hours before 2018.
The conversation started when Gatchalian, using his personal Twitter account, replied "The nation already lost its soul in the last 6 years" to Maria Ressa's Rappler article post about the Liberal Party.
When the netizens noticed the thread and started to call him "balimbing" and "trapo" or traditional politician, the senator replied to a netizen "Gago ka!"
And another..
Netizens were quick to slam Gatchalian for his choice of words:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">Sir never say that to us.kami.po sng nsgpapasahod sa inyo.we deserve all the respect.</p>— bethen olavera (@OlaveraBethen) <a href="https://twitter.com/OlaveraBethen/status/947734538830036992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One more thing, Senator, the year is clearly indicated in the screenshot. I hope that you're much more scrutinizing, observant, and clear thinking when doing the job the Philippine people has elected you to do.</p>— Saul de Jesus (@unSauLicited) <a href="https://twitter.com/unSauLicited/status/947745336457494528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. Language please. Hindi porke't Presidente ganyan magsalita, tutularan na. Also, pakisabihan ang Presidente. Susme.<br><br>2. The year in question is exactly the point. Resibo culture is very much alive. BIR is proud.</p>— J to the world (@ceejong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ceejong/status/947745667555790849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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'Balimbing, trapo'
His reply got the attention of a user @Stewart___O who immediately posted a screenshot of Gatchalian's tweets praising Former President Benigno Aquino III and showing support in the past administration on way back 2012.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">Ewan ko sa yo, Win. <a href="https://t.co/yjSQSQPn2C">pic.twitter.com/yjSQSQPn2C</a></p>— Stewart(@Stewart___O) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stewart___O/status/947695561037238272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">At what point in the last 6 years did we lose our soul? I’m confused. <a href="https://t.co/cxB8p6XjTk">pic.twitter.com/cxB8p6XjTk</a></p>— Stewart (@Stewart___O) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stewart___O/status/947707224842952704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Was it while he was dreaming of Pnoy? <a href="https://t.co/cm9FkoNXDU">pic.twitter.com/cm9FkoNXDU</a></p>— Stewart (@Stewart___O) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stewart___O/status/947707386944405504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The senator then asked the year of his tweets when a netizen @tr1pnautic retweeted @Stewart___O's post and said "the internet never forgets".
Hacked?
Meanwhile, others were skeptic if it was Gatchalian using his account. Gatchalian confirmed that it was him.
The online conversation on Twitter racked up reactions from the public, with tweets condemning the act of the senator. Gatchalian has not yet released any statement about his tweets.
Here are the rest of netizen's reactions:
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<a class="twitter-timeline" data-partner="tweetdeck" href="http://go.rappler.com/https://twitter.com/MovePH/timelines/947766783372533760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Sherwin Gatchalian tweets - Curated tweets by MovePH</a> <script async src="http://go.rappler.com/https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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– Rappler.com