An entry to the annual “#RP612fic” trend on Philippine Independence Day gained viral status as it featured a funny incident wherein one of Vice President Leni Robredo’s daughters was called “Joferlyn.”
Twitter user @KrwnJv on June 12 shared an edited screengrab from a video that showed comedian Jun Sabayton or “Bayaw” interviewing physician Janine Patricia Robredo or Tricia.
The video was reportedly released last May when the comedian ran a satirical election campaign, “BAYAW (Bagong Alyansang Ayaw sa Walanghiya) for President,” to promote voter education for the 2022 national and local elections.
This included satirical videos and one of these featured Bayaw talking to Tricia who was invited to talk about her mother—who was then running for president.
“Good day, brothers and sisters in law, especially ‘tong araw na ‘to no, dahil makakasama natin ang ating future vice president ng Pilipinas no, anak ng future vice president ng Pilipinas, si Miss Joferlyn Robredo!” he exclaimed before.
“Pero ako po si Tricia pero kahit anong gusto niyong tawag sa’kin, okay lang. Joferlyn na lang tayo,” Tricia said in response.
The snippet of the interview has reached a subreddit of a discussion website dedicated to Filipinos, where a Redditor commented that the comedian “usually puts LYN on some random characters like Jinalyn and Mang Candylyn..”
“I love her sense of humor hahahaha,” another Reddit user said in response to Tricia’s comment before.
The vice president does not have a daughter named “Joferlyn” but all of her children’s first names start with J, the first letter of her late husband’s name.
The hilarious exchange between Jun and Tricia was used as an entry for this year’s “#RP612fic,” a hashtag trend used in every celebration of Philippine Independence Day.
“RP” in the hashtag stands for Republic of the Philippines while “612” stands for June 12, the holiday. “Fic,” on the other hand, stands for “fiction.”
Twitter user @KrwnJv wrote: “Dr. Jose Rizal mistakenly calling Josephine Bracken ‘Joferlyn’ on their first date. circa 1895
#rp612fic #rp612”
Josephine Bracken was the national hero’s last love who was immortalized in his “Mi Ultimo Adios” poem where she was called “dulce extranjera” or “sweet foreigner.”
The Twitter user edited the screengrab from Tricia and Jun in a black-and-white color scheme to further evoke the vibe of the yore.
Dr. Jose Rizal mistakenly calling Josephine Bracken "Joferlyn" on their first date. circa 1895#rp612fic #rp612 pic.twitter.com/bsxcgHUxcF
— Kije Vinrow (@KrwnJv) June 12, 2022
The entry has reached 20,000 likes, over 200 quote tweets and more than 1,940 retweets so far.
The “#RP612FIC” trend was started by writer Paolo Chikiamco in 2009.
It is an alternative way of telling history to celebrate the country’s Independence Day which was originally used by artists and writers to post their flash fiction on Twitter.
Earlier entries included themes such as alternative history and steampunk reinterpretations of Philippine history, mythology or modern-day events.
Nowadays, people most often juxtapose pop culture references with historical events or tidbits from the lives of historical figures.
Others simply share memes and content with captions relating to historical figures or events.
Some of this year’s “#RP612FIC” entries are the following:
The founding father of Shopee riders on his way to make his first delivery. #rp612fic pic.twitter.com/2Ph4ovzmH3
— name cannot be blank (@hakdogformalens) June 12, 2022
leaked conversation between two fabric traders of the Manila Galleon Trade in 1560s #rp612fic pic.twitter.com/15X8VcPaXN
— flyboy • commissions open (@funsizeflyboy) June 12, 2022
digitally restored photo of Maria Clara #rp612fic pic.twitter.com/apt09SNM08
— TikTok Philippines (@TikTokPH) June 12, 2022
The hashtag #RP612fic” is on local Twitter’s trending list as of Monday afternoon.
The country celebrated its 124th year of independence from the centuries-long Spanish colonial rule on June 12, 2022.
More than a century ago, former president Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent from its European colonizers in Kawit, Cavite on June 12.
The holiday also commemorates the first time the Philippine flag was displayed and the national anthem was sung.
