The Twitter account of political critic Marcelo Landicho a.k.a. “Professional Heckler” was suspended for a second time after he shared a satirical blog post titled “LEAKED: Duterte’s SONA 2018.”
Popular personalities condemned the suspension, saying it was uncalled for.
Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay petitioned for the social media platform to restore Landicho’s account and called for his own followers to retweet his post.
rt to petition to bring back @HecklerForever who has been suspended AGAIN.
dear freedom-loving Twitterverse, kalampagin po natin ang @Twitter pic.twitter.com/2876E68dMh
— florin hilbay (@fthilbay) July 25, 2018
Broadcast journalist Karen Davila also called out Twitter’s move and wrote that the suspension was a “big mistake.” She accused the social media platform of “stifling very witty & funny free speech.”
Hello @Twitter you made a BIG MISTAKE in suspending the account of @HecklerForever. Stifling very witty & funny free speech! Please bring the account back on line ??
— Karen Davila (@iamkarendavila) July 24, 2018
Kapamilya actress Agot Isidro was outraged, saying that Twitter could’ve suspended a “hundred” other accounts instead of Landicho’s.
The actress has previously received threats from Twitter users because of her critical posts about the administration.
Again???? @Twitter , seriously???
I can give you a hundred accounts to suspend but @HecklerForever ??? Seriously? pic.twitter.com/btnX3sZLeu— Agot Isidro (@agot_isidro) July 24, 2018
Blogger and columnist Tonyo Cruz similarly petitioned for Twitter to restore the political critic’s account, adding the hashtag “#DefendFreeExpression” on his post.
LOOK: @HecklerForever (Professional Heckler) has been suspended again.
RT to tell @Twitter and @TwitterSupport to restore his account. #DefendFreeExpression pic.twitter.com/SwG7DGBnGh
— Tonyo Cruz (@tonyocruz) July 25, 2018
Another political critic who runs the “Pinoy Ako Blog” tagged Twitter and said that it has “mistakenly suspended” Landicho’s account.
“Pinoy Ako Blog” — similar to “Professional Heckler” — is also a critic of the government who publishes satirical posts.
Hi @twitter. You mistakenly suspended @HecklerForever again. Please bring him back.
— PinoyAkoBlog (@PinoyAkoBlog) July 24, 2018
Satirical post of Duterte’s SONA
Days before President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address, Landicho posted a satirical blog post titled “LEAKED: Duterte’s SONA 2018” which was written on July 19, 2018.
It was a mockery of Duterte’s style of speaking and how he stands on certain issues of the country. An excerpt of it reads:
“Baka sabihin n’yo, puro problema na lang itong si Duterte. Ulol ka ‘pag inisip mo ‘yun. Sa mga Dilawan at Ka-DDS d’yan, mag-focus na lang tayo sa positive things sa ating paligid.”
“Nandiyan ang mababait nating fishermen sa West Philippine Sea. Kita n’yo naman… iluluto na lang ang mga huli, ipinamigay pa sa friends nilang Chinese. Talk about hospitality. Palakpakan natin sila.”
Landicho’s account previously got suspended after he shared a blog post that criticized Duterte’s anti-“tambay” directive.
“Die-hard Duterte supporters” — collectively known as “DDS” — are suspected to be the ones behind his first suspension.
Apart from running the “Professional Heckler” account, Landicho wrote a column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. His first opinion piece criticizes the president, albeit in a tamer manner than that of his satirical blog post.
