Because she was a Miss International title-holder (crowned in Osaka, Japan in 1970), Aurora Pijuan is unimpeachable when she tweets about the beauty pageant, like she did at the height of the hoopla at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA1) on the afternoon of November 15, 2011.

“This is more exciting than the coronation of Miss International! ” she exclaims, while apparently monitoring on TV ex-President Gloria Arroyo’s attempted flight to Singapore and tweeting her reactions on her account @aupijuan. The shifting cameras, Pijuan complains, made her “dizzy.”

The parallels between the Arroyo episode and a similar commotion at the airport 27 years ago did not escape the former beauty queen.  On August 21, 1983, according to Marcos airport officials, a small-time felon named Rolando Galman breached the security cordon and shot opposition senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr, as he stepped out of the China Airlines plane from his exile in the US.  Evoking memories of that day, Pijuan, via Twitter, conjured the alleged assassin’s spirit that may still be around at NAIA: “Galman, bumangon ka!”

As televiewers stayed glued to their sets, netizens let their fingers do the talking as they tweeted their own take of the airport incident via the social network and microblogging service that enables users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as tweets. Created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched in July of the same year, Twitter now has an estimated 300 million users generating over 300 million tweets a day.

The memory of August 21, 1983 persisted in the joke tweeted by @tweetnirizal and Rtd (retweeted) by others:

PNoy to GMA: “Hoy, airport yan ng Tatay ko. Kung gusto mong umalis, doon ka sa airport ng Tatay mo! (Hey, that’s my father’s airport! If you want to leave, use your father’s airport!)  NAIA was of course named after P-Noy’s father, while the Clark, Pampanga airport, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, was named after hers.

So where were you when Arroyo and her husband, lawyer Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, tried to leave the country, allegedly for medical treatment in Singapore, but were stopped by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima? The day was hash-tagged in Twitter as #thrillaatnaia, #gloriawatch and #GloriaArroyo.

Whether you wanted the Arroyos to leave or not, one can’t help but be amazed by “bangis ni de Lima,” (spunk of de Lima) said @indayvarona, referring to the justice secretary’s unflinching decision to enforce the watch-list order on the Arroyos that she issued, which the Supreme Court had ordered lifted.

Unsolicited advice poured for the feisty de Lima, and a #teamdelima was created as expression of support. How to stop Arroyo from leaving? Just put a height requirement at the terminal door. Parang theme park ride, said @ssowy

Why not put extra-strong magnets on all sides of her metal braces instead of handcuffs? said @negastarr

ExPres GMA looks like a criminal on the run, said @activistblogger.

She is biting her tongue hoping to stay awake in spite of sedatives, said @one1ron.

This is it! The most hated President is in the most hated AIRPORT! said @twitnigab.

Dear friends in media – please… isang batok lang (cuff her on the nape) on our behalf, said @gabemercado.

Garciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, nasaan ka? said @drclinton (reprising the electoral controversy that involved election commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcellano).

PALEA to Pnoy: We can block Arroyo’s escape, but will u block PAL outsourcing? said @manggagawa.

Lumingon ba si dating Pangulo? Kung hindi, naku. Alam mo na! Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan … may neck brace! said @HecklerForever  (Did she turn her head? As the saying goes, she who does not look back—has a neck brace).

When it was made clear to the Arroyos that they could not leave, and Congresswoman Arroyo retreated to her P50,000/day suite at the St Luke’s in Global City, tweets continued their running commentary, although in a lighter vein.

If the wheelchair gambit didn’t work, maybe they can try the baby carriage next time, said @hotmanila.

Gloria Arroyo is a devotee of St Lukes, says @tweetnirizal, who also posted this: St Luke’s is the patron saint of election saboteurs.

It’s not to say the Arroyos did not have defenders in Twitter. This one expressed sympathy for the ailing former President.

Too much. Bat sobrang praning at takot Pnoy umalis CGMA. I just sent up names to d karma fairy for such inhumane treatment, said @ningDurezaUy.

But this lone voice would be drowned in the overwhelming support for President Aquino and his justice secretary. Dear GMA, weak ba si Pres Noy? Takot ka no? Dyan ka na lang sa St Lukes. Chillax ka jan, said @BobbyYacap.

Ms Arroyo’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio gained his own infamy in Twitterdom when he said he’d have one of his balls cut off if the Arroyos don’t return to the country. For this, #itlogniTopacio became a trending topic and inspired such words as “eggsposse” by @ruffybiazon, “eggposure and eggsaggerate” by @Abi-Valte.

So much for the tatters of the presidency of Gloria Arroyo. Nine years absolute immunity and absolute power, said @marvicleonen … now the spectacle of wheelchair, neck brace & halo, added @cesdrilon.

In case you want a review of how the tweets went (and will be flying in the coming days), see the following on Twitter:

#gloriawatch

#GloriaArroyo

#bantaygloria

#itlognitopacio

#teamdelima

#arrestarroyo

#karmaarroyo

(You can also follow the author on Twitter at @amfezam and @dziq990, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer on @inquirerdotnet) •