Philippines leader Duterte follows in Trump’s ‘covfefe’ footsteps with ‘fafda’ tweet
A mysterious tweet from the official twitter account of the office of the president of the Philippines sent netizens into overdrive with suggestions that Rodrigo Duterte was having a ‘covfefe’ moment.
Just after 1pm local time,Thursday, ‘fafda’ – neither a Filipino (Tagalog) nor an English word – was tweeted from the account, sparking tongue-in-cheek comparisons with US President Donald Trump and his infamous ‘covfefe’ message.
So, is “fafda” the same as “Covfefe?” or the start of “the magic dragon…”?
— Theodore Te (@TedTe) August 18, 2017
So is this our Philippine #Covfefe? pic.twitter.com/K3Y7Iu9x6C
— Ethel (@econcepcion) August 18, 2017
READ MORE: Trump tweet mystery: President’s #Covfefe message triggers troll tsunami
Officials in the Philippines, however, were quicker off the mark than their US counterparts and deleted the tweet within just seven minutes.
Despite its brief appearance online, the Twitteratti still managed to get the ‘word’ trending.
#Fafda now trending in the Philippines after @PresidentialCom tweeted "fafda" earlier. The tweet has been deleted. pic.twitter.com/gkE5c3peN6
— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) August 18, 2017
Some treated it as an acronym, using it to make a political point. Others pointed out that ‘fafda’ is in fact a popular street food in India and suggested that given the timing of the post, maybe the tweeter had lunch on their mind
FAFDA:
— Mikhail Quijano (@mikhailquijano) 18 August 2017
Frightening
Amount of
Filipinos
Dead
Already
STOP FAFDA NOW.@PresidentialCompic.twitter.com/d7fGolsdLY
Fafda is an acryonym for: Fulis Are Failing Due Action. This tweet was made after what happened to 17-year old Kian De Los Santos. Charot!
— Ethel Booba (@IamEthylGabison) August 18, 2017
I did not know #Fafda is a popular Gujarati snack 🤓 pic.twitter.com/CC55v1HkTp
— robert (@robertrnchz) August 18, 2017
The Presidential Communications Operations Office later confirmed the word didn’t mean anything, reports The Inquirer. Instead, the office said it was an accidental tweet posted by one of its social media admins – and not Duterte.
Palace says ‘fafda’ has no meaning, vows to be ‘more careful’ in social media https://t.co/NzAnQ1B9BH
— Inquirer Libre (@inquirer_libre) August 18, 2017