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MANILA, Philippines – The news of Dolphy’s death on the evening of July 10 first broke on Twitter.
Actress Rufa Mae Quinto claimed she was the first to tweet about the death of the Comedy King.
Yes ako naunang nag tweet about our comedy king , family ko na din ang Quizon kaya sad ako,sad na sad
— rufamaequinto (@imrufamaequinto) July 10, 2012
It doesn’t matter sino nauna
— rufamaequinto (@imrufamaequinto) July 10, 2012
But it was actress Ruffa Gutierrez’s post that spread like wildfire in the microblogging site.
Gutierrez and Quinto were together in Bataan for the shooting of their upcoming TV fantaserye Enchanted Garden directed by Eric Quizon, one of Dolphy’s sons and the designated spokesperson of the family.
Mau Herrera, a member of the production staff of Enchanted Garden, told Rappler that Quizon headed back to Manila about 30 minutes before the news spread on Twitter. Herrera said she heard Quizon say, “The doctor has stopped his father’s medication,” before he left the set.
Jimmy Aguilera, another staff member who was with Gutierrez and Quinto, told Rappler it was Boy-2 Quizon who informed Quinto about the death of Dolphy. Quinto is the rumored girlfriend of Boy-2, one of Dolphy’s grandsons.
Both Gutierrez and Quinto deleted their initial tweets. Based on the time stamps of the tweets reacting to and retweets of Quinto’s post, the actress broke the news at around 8:25 pm.
“@imrufamaequinto: I’m so sad I wanna cry!R.I.p to my Idol the king of comedy!Dolphy.:(” ow my.
— mina (TALAmazing) (@0jeromin8) July 10, 2012
Gutierrez tweeted she heard the sad news at about 8:27 pm and tweeted about the Comedy King’s death at 8:35 pm.
Journalists, including ABS-CBN news anchor Karen Davila, retweeted Gutierrez’s tweet at 8:48 pm, even before her network confirmed the news.
RT @iloveruffag: R.I.P Ninong Dolphy ☹ Thank you for making us laugh throughout the years….
— Karen Davila (@Karen_DaviLa) July 10, 2012
At the time, various news organizations also posted disclaimers on their respective Twitter accounts, saying they were still verifying Dolphy’s death.
No official word yet on Dolphy’s condition. ANC still verifying.
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) July 10, 2012
We are still verifying reports on Twitter that Comedy King Dolphy has passed away. Please watch @STATEOFDNATION on GMA News TV for updates.
— GMA News (@gmanews) July 10, 2012
We’re trying to confirm news spreading on social media.
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) July 10, 2012
Meanwhile, Yahoo! Philippines, News5Aksyon and some netizens tweeted Dolphy was still alive:
Easy on the updates!RT @YahooPH: Nene Riego, Dolphy’s publicist, says the comedy king is still alive. Please watch out for our updates #omg
— pia guanio-mago (@piaguanio) July 10, 2012
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Twitter user @mykapalaran posted that he got a text message from a friend who was with Eric Quizon that Dolphy was still alive. @News5Aksyon retweeted his post:
RT @mykapalaran: Direk Eric Quizon (son of Dolphy) ay nasa taping ng #EnchantedGarden ngayon. Pinabulaanan ang balitang patay na si Pidol.
— News5 AKSYON (@News5AKSYON) July 10, 2012
Dolphy is still alive guys! Let’s keep praying for him. Thank you.
— Isaiah mendoza (@IC_Mendoza) July 10, 2012
Confusion ensued on Twitter as news organizations and netizens tried to verify the news.
Ang hilig nyo pumatay! Ayan not true! RT @eboydiaz: RT @mykapalaran: Dolphy not dead. My source: twitter.com/mykapalaran/st…
— Eric Cham 王文傑 (@chammyboy) July 10, 2012
@iloveruffag @tonyocruz Is this for real?
— Malou Tiquia (@maltiq) July 10, 2012
If her tweet turns out unconfirmed, RIP would now mean “Ruffa In Peace”
— Tonyo Cruz (@tonyocruz) July 10, 2012
Are u sure? Gosh. Ang gulo ng twitter. RT @mykapalaran: DOLPHY IS STILL ALIVE!
— Divine Lee (@DivinemLee) July 10, 2012
iloveruffag: I don’t tweet rumors. I verify the facts first. Now may I cry and be sad now?? Thank you.
— RUFFA Gutierrez (@il0veruffag) July 10, 2012
Others urged calm and caution:
DON’T jump to conclusions based on what you read here.A family member has not confirmed anything.
— Boyet J. Sison (@BoyetJSison) July 10, 2012
Reporters are double checking the news. Please wait for official word.
— Jove Francisco (@jovefrancisco) July 10, 2012
Be careful with retweeting tweets in quotes. They may have been manipulated and possibly wrong
— Lynda Jumilla-Abalos (@lyndajumilla) July 10, 2012
reminder: mas mabilis ang kuryente.
— Dennis Gasgonia (@gasgo1976) July 10, 2012
— Marian Rivera (@superstarmarian) July 10, 2012
I deleted my last tweet coz there has been confusion if the news was confirmed or not. The safest thing to do now is PRAY.
— jose marie viceral (@vicegandako) July 10, 2012
At 9:06, ABS-CBN reported ZsaZsa Padilla confirmed that Dolphy indeed passed away.
[BREAKING] Zsa Zsa Padilla confirms to ABS-CBN that Comedy King Dolphy has passed away.
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) July 10, 2012
The online exhilaration turned into viral mourning: #RIPDolphy — Rappler.com
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- [Entertainment] Why Dolphy is not yet a National Artist
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