Palace and Arroyo lawyer trade insults via Twitter

The word war between spokesmen of President Aquino and former President Arroyo just got very personal. And it's happening in the short outbursts required on Twitter. First, loquacious Arroyo lawyer Ferdinand Topacio tweeted that Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III is a “faggot of the worst kind," while later denying that he was homophobic. Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda tweeted in response, “Ferdie Topacio is a BIGOT! Same guy who said d Holocaust never happened!” Topacio then attacked Lacierda: “Hahaha. You can’t talk without subtracting from the sum total of human knowledge, my friend. Stick to your stuttering.” In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Topacio claimed that his tweet about Quezon was a delayed reaction to a blog post written by Quezon in which he described Topacio as "Hitler-loving." Topacio clarified that he was merely a person who studied the Nazi leader's life. However, in an interview with Rappler last year, Topacio spoke admiringly of Hitler and even displayed a portrait in his office of the man held responsible for genocide in Europe. In a February 22 blog post, Quezon had written about the attempt by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Mike to leave the country after getting a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court, which was then headed by impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona. “By 6 pm, the Arroyos had, on the surface, complied with the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court: they’d posted a 2 million peso bond, and given their lawyer, Hitler-loving Ferdinand Topacio, a special power of attorney,” Quezon wrote. “The only problem was, considering how Topacio was willing to bet an egg the Arroyos would come back, he and the Arroyos were in such a rush that they actually were counting their chickens before they’d hatched,” he continued. Topacio didn't take too kindly to being called "Hitler-loving," even with the Hitler painting in his office. He said that by calling Quezon a “faggot,” he meant “a spineless person, a person who is a coward, who is without principles.” Topacio claimed he was the “last person to be a homophobe,” saying he has many homosexual friends. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy group Ang Ladlad expressed dismay over what it said was Topacio's offensive statement. "Dismayado kami at nakakalungkot ang ganitong klaseng pananalita mula sa isang respetadong abogado," Ang Ladlad's media officer Dexter Macaldo said in a phone interview. "Kinokondena namin ang ganitong klaseng derogatory remark. -- HS, GMA News