“Philippine politics risks descending into a circus of viral gaffes, where algorithms outvote citizens”
IN A modest carinderia in Pampanga, Kiko Pangilinan joined a boodle fight, eating rice soaked in carabao milk from a pot lid – a humble nod to Kapampangan tradition.
Captured by food vlogger Romeo Catacutan, the moment was meant to celebrate culture and connection.
Within hours, it was hijacked, twisted into a meme by a swarm of faceless accounts hell-bent on painting a reformist as a fool.
This is no trivial scandal. The “higup sabaw” controversy is a calculated disinformation attack, a microcosm of how shadowy online operatives are poisoning Philippine democracy.
This isn’t about a man eating off a pot lid; it’s about whether elections will be decided by voters or troll farms.
Kiko Pangilinan, a former senator and 2025 senatorial candidate, is a target because of his record, not his meal.
His Sagip Saka Act empowered farmers, giving them direct market access to combat rural poverty.
His advocacy for food security tackles hunger head-on.
Yet, in early April 2025, a video of him honoring his father’s Kapampangan roots went viral, sparking a deluge of ridicule.
Pangilinan, in a Facebook Live on April 12, called it what it was: an “orchestrated” and “well-funded” smear, amplified by bot accounts with Vietnamese-sounding names and eerily identical reactions.
His appeal to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate isn’t just self-defense—it’s a stand for electoral integrity.
The mechanics of this attack are chillingly precise.
The video, shared innocently by Catacutan, was weaponized within hours.
Bots and paid trolls—hiding behind foreign pseudonyms—flooded Meta and TikTok with mockery, framing a cultural act as a desperate stunt.
This wasn’t spontaneous; it was scripted, a digital ambush timed weeks before the May 12 elections. Tribune.net.ph reported Pangilinan’s anguish, noting how he tied the act to his father’s legacy, a “core memory” of heritage.
The attackers didn’t just target him—they exploited cultural ignorance, gaslighting Filipinos into seeing tradition as farce.
It’s a playbook ripped from global disinformation campaigns, like the fabricated scandals that plagued South Korea’s 2017 election or the bot-driven smears against Mexico’s AMLO in 2018.
Pangilinan’s detractors, whether unwitting dupes or bad-faith operatives, are complicit in a broader assault.
The smear trivializes his work—legislation that lifts farmers, policies that feed the hungry—reducing a reformist to a punchline.
The cultural cruelty is stark: mocking a Kapampangan ritual isn’t just personal; it’s an attack on Filipino identity.
Social media amplifies this divide, with urban netizens sneering at what rural communities embrace. The result? A fractured discourse where authenticity is weaponized, and trust erodes.
The stakes are existential. If a pot lid can derail a campaign, what hope is there for substantive debate?
Philippine politics risks descending into a circus of viral gaffes, where algorithms outvote citizens.
Pangilinan’s fight is a warning: unchecked disinformation makes democracy a race to the bottom. His call to Comelec—to sanction candidates tied to troll networks—is urgent.
Meta and TikTok must suspend bot accounts that spread lies. But the real battle lies with voters.
Reject the smear machine that turns heritage into a joke.
Focus on Pangilinan’s vision: a Philippines where farmers thrive, hunger fades, and elections reflect ballots, not bots.
In Pampanga, a pot lid is a symbol of community.
In 2025, it’s a battleground.
The “higup sabaw” plot isn’t just an attack on Kiko Pangilinan—it’s an assault on democracy’s soul. Choose your side.
Sources:
Tribune.net.ph (April 13, 2025):
Kiko hits ‘orchestrated,’ ‘well-funded’ disinformation drive
Kiko decries well-funded disinfo campaign
Pangilinan to Comelec: Urge FB, TikTok to block trolls
Manila Bulletin (April 2025):
‘Orchestrated, well-funded’: Pangilinan decries disinformation in viral pot video
Politiko.com.ph (April 10, 2025):
Lid service? Kiko Pangilinan mocked for eating off a cauldron cover
X posts cite:
X post by @XXXScribbles: https://x.com/XXXScribbles/status/1910960662421074276
X post by @itstherealTing: https://x.com/itstherealTing/status/1911748587048063013