Andanar: Urban Dictionary’s take on ‘Duterte’ is ‘illegitimate, defamatory’

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines — It would seem like Malacañang has gotten upset about an online dictionary’s Internet-culled meaning of “Duterte.”

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman countered Urban Dictionary’s definition of that word, the Chief Executive’s Communications Secretary, Martin Andanar, came decrying the description as “inaccurate, illegitimate, and defamatory.”

Urban Dictionary, a crowdsourced online dictionary meant to give definition to various slang words, recently released its definition of “Duterte” as a “scam, traitor, fake,” and “of low quality” after a netizen submitted the word, which it also clarifies as a verb, and adjective, and a noun.

READ: Urban Dictionary described Duterte in the most savage way

“The online content featured in the Urban Dictionary is contributed by anyone who has access to their website, and voted upon by unaccredited editors,” Andanar said in a statement. 

“In the absence of strict rules, style guides, and moderators, the contributions therein are essentially inaccurate, illegitimate, and defamatory,” he added.

Earlier, Panelo opposed the given meaning of “Duterte” in the Urban Dictionary by saying that for them that word means “honest, incorruptible, politically-willed person, courageous, selfless, honest, transparent and all good things that come to… and other synonymous terms.”

READ: Palace to Urban Dictionary: Duterte means ‘honest, incorruptible, transparent’

Andanar said the dictionary’s definition of the President’s surname is in stark contrast of the public’s “positive feedback for the government based on two independent surveys that showed 80% of Filipinos are satisfied with the Chief Executive’s performance, and 85% approve of and trust his leadership.”

He also mentioned the May 2019 elections where Duterte-aligned senatorial candidates dominated the senate race. /kga