MANILA, Philippines — A Facebook page from India became the latest victim of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “legion” of online supporters.
DDS Confessions —a Facebook page meant to be a platform for alumni of the Daisy Dales Senior Secondary School in India’s capital city of New Delhi—said it got spammed for having the famed DDS acronym.
The term “DDS” has been a popular internet lingo in the Philippines since 2016 and stands for “Diehard Duterte Supporters.” It is also a nod to the notorious Davao Death Squad, which has been linked to Duterte’s alleged human rights abuses when he was still mayor of Davao City.
In a post, DDS Confessions called the DDS—Duterte’s supporters—as cult members and clarified that they are not a political page.
“For the love of whatever you guys worship – Please stop,” the page wrote.
The post had gone viral with over 6,600 shares and more than 15,000 reactions as of 1 p.m. Thursday. It also has over 1,400 comments, some of which came from Filipino netizens who jived in and expressed “disappointment” over the actions of the President’s supporters.
“This is cringy AF. While I won’t apologize for the actions of my stupid countrymen, I am deeply, and shamefully, disappointed. Can’t believe their free FB [Facebook] data got them into this,” wrote one Lloyd Christian Estudillo in the comment section.
“This is so embarrassing. On behalf of my countrymen, we really apologize. But that specific group of people does not represent the whole country,” wrote another netizen, Micah Mariano.
According to the handler of the DDS Confessions Page, the attention they got from Duterte’s supporters prompted him to do some “research” about the tough-talking President.
“The sentence ‘I am horrified to the very core of soul’ doesn’t quite justify what I’m feeling,” the page said it its post.
In another post, the page handler bared that he is now receiving death threats from Duterte’s “lunatic supporters” for thinking that he was a “yellow,” the political color of the opposition Liberal Party.
“Folks, if an anonymous Indian guy sitting thousands of miles away can influence people into voting against your president then you have bigger problems,” the handler wrote.
“That’s all people, please stop this madness and go away. I’m done.”