The Twitter account of Ayala Museum deleted a witty post about historical revisionism that was shared on July 27, which was also when the penultimate presidential address took place.
A Reddit user managed to make a screenshot of it and shared it on the forum with the caption: “Sayang dinelete.”
The deleted tweet was: “I have a joke about Philippine history but it’s being revised.”
Prior to its removal, the tweet earned more than 10,000 likes and made rounds more than 3,000 times on Twitter.
A Twitter user, meanwhile, managed to take a screenshot of Ayala Museum’s succeeding tweets.
— damjigz (@damjigz) July 27, 2020
“Since you’re all here, I’d like to promote my YouTube channel in case anyone needs to learn more about history,” the next tweet read and attached a link of Ayala Museum’s YouTube channel.
The account later expressed surprise that the main tweet gained much traction.
“I didn’t expect to get this much traction, though! I mean, I didn’t even tell the joke yet,” the tweet read.
It was uncharacteristic of Ayala Museum’s Twitter account to share such jokes as its content on Facebook and Twitter are mostly promotional.
A few who noticed the deleted tweet on historical revision were disappointed over that it was pulled out.
Others wondered if it was shared by an intern or the social media handler forgot to log out of the work account.
Others held a theory that the deletion was part of the “joke.”
Ayala Museum’s tweet was part of a global meme on the microblogging platform last weekend wherein users start their statements with “I have a joke” about a topic and then proceed with a related pun.
Similar to other online trends, how it originated is difficult to trace. The tweet from Monica Lewinsky, an American anti-bullying activist, was among the most popular ones with over 530,000 likes.
i have an intern joke and it… nevermind. https://t.co/SCHRGYVIJV
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) July 24, 2020
Among Filipino online personalities, they poked fun at the worsening state of public health care in the country.
I have a Primary Health Care joke, but it's not for all. https://t.co/vUzmaurEfL
— doc gene (@genenisperos) July 25, 2020
I have a joke about COVID-19 but I hope you don't get it so it won't be viral.
— Edson (@EdsonCGuido) July 27, 2020
Duterte’s vocal opposition against ‘oligarchy’
President Rodrigo Duterte had always been vocal in dismantling “oligarchy” in the country since the start of his presidency in 2016, although his definition of oligarchy does not follow how it’s commonly understood as a group of people holding considerable political and economic power.
However, he kept on addressing this only to the Ayala Group, Manny Pangilinan, and the Lopez family, which who owns broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp.
ABS-CBN’s radio, television and digital services, including its subsidiary Sky Direct, were permanently shut down after 70 lawmakers denied the broadcast giant’s application for a fresh 25-year franchise.
In his recent SONA, Duterte targeted the Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. Smart Communications Inc., the wireless arm of PLDT Inc. in closure threats should their services not improve by December.
