Gabriela calls out ‘misogynistic attacks’ on journos covering Du30 case
The sudden wave of attacks against women journalists covering developments of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s case of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has revived among his supporters a deep sense of misogyny he espoused during his administration, women’s rights group Gabriela said on Saturday.
The sexist online harassment and cyberbullying against TV network reporters Zen Hernandez of ABS-CBN News, Mariz Umali of GMA News and Gretchen Ho of TV5 in the past two weeks also unearthed a “familiar playbook,” the group noted.
Gabriela cited the case of Umali, who was misheard in a video posted online calling former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea matanda (old). This prompted misogynistic remarks on social media, including from former journalist and columnist Ramon Tulfo.
In a post on her Facebook account, Umali clarified that she said “mata niya,” referring to Medialdea’s eyes, which he closed when he saw the reporter trying to get close and interview him while being taken out of an ambulance and into a hospital on a stretcher.
Hernandez and Ho had also received sexist remarks while being called out by “trolls” for their supposed “biased” reporting.
‘Familiar playbook’
“These attacks follow a familiar playbook—discredit the messenger to dismiss the message,” Gabriela secretary general Clarice Palce said in a statement.
What Duterte supporters and “trolls” are trying to do, she noted, is target the women journalists with gender-based attacks “to undermine not just individual reporters, but to intimidate all media practitioners who dare to cover issues of accountability and justice.”
“The attack on women journalists is not just an attack on press freedom but a clear manifestation of how Rodrigo Duterte and his past administration normalized deep misogyny in the country,” Palce said.
For Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, silencing and intimidating women journalists constitutes the “classic Duterte brand of disrespect to women.”
In response to the unfounded online attacks, Hernandez reposted on X (formerly Twitter) a statement by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) Philippines, which denounced the “pattern” of misogynistic remarks against the reporters.
“Harassment is not criticism; it is an attempt to silence. And press under attack is a democracy at risk,” IAWRT said.
Hernandez, for her part, stressed in an X post: “Nobody has the right to discredit and disparage the hard work, not just of women, but all journalists in the field.”
Ho reposted this, adding: “We will do our jobs.”
Targets of cyberbullying
Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc of the Pre-Trial Chamber 1, the court handling Duterte’s case for the deaths in the war on drugs, has also been the subject of cyberbullying on her social media pages, including her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.
Even human rights lawyer Kristina Conti, who is assisting drug war victims in the ICC case and investigation, was not spared by trolls and Duterte supporters.
Former Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago pressed social media companies, especially Meta (Facebook), to act on the issue and put in place corrective measures, such as regulation and removal of misogynistic content and comments.
“When platforms like Facebook allow vile comments threatening women’s safety to remain online despite reports, they become enablers of gender-based violence,” she said in a statement.
