DutertePalpak is a critical portmanteau hashtag combining the surname of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and the
Filipino word palpak, which translates to "blunder" or "embarrassing failure". It gained major traction in March
2021 as a trending social media topic to criticize the administration's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the economic devastation, job losses, and rising infection rates. The hashtag gained even wider notoriety when it was accidentally posted by the state-run news network,
People's Television Network (PTV), on their official
Twitter and Facebook accounts while sharing an article about the
government providing free face masks. The network later apologized and blamed predictive text. Following its popularity, a coalition of human rights groups
like #CourageON adopted the term for public report cards, while news organizations like Rappler published editorials under the same banner to evaluate the administration's policies on livelihood, health, human rights, and the environment.
