‘They should get a life’

For Rep. Ysabel Zamora, the online attacks over her recent appearance as a prosecutor at the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte were less about the questions she asked than about a familiar problem: how women are judged when they take center stage.

“I don’t care if they bash me, I’m here to do my job. I mean seriously, they should get a life,” Zamora said in response to sexist remarks directed at her after she conducted the direct examination of a police firearms officer.

Zamora conducted the direct examination of Philippine National Police Firearms Officer Maj. Joericson Sangalang on Monday.

Her questions established that Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, owned a total of 51 firearms worth some P7 million, based on records presented during the proceedings.

But instead of focusing on the evidence, some online commenters zeroed in on Zamora’s tone and manner of questioning.

Some called her performance “cringe,” while others made sexist remarks about what they described as her “bedroom voice.”

Zamora said she was disappointed that women who speak confidently and perform in public continue to face misogynistic attacks.

“It’s so unfortunate that a lot of Filipinos still think that way. We still make misogynistic remarks, especially directed towards women, girls who are apparently smart and can speak,” she said.

“Perhaps they can’t handle sass, they can’t handle style,” she added.

Zamora said she had become accustomed to such comments and viewed her role in the impeachment proceedings simply as part of her duty as a lawyer.

She recalled serving as one of the Philippine representatives to the 70th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, where issues involving women’s participation and treatment in society were discussed.

For Zamora, the bigger concern is what such online attacks say about the quality of public discussion surrounding the impeachment trial.

“Let us raise the level of discourse, especially in the impeachment proceedings because the people need to understand what is happening in the trial,” she said.

House trial spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers came to Zamora’s defense, saying attacks against members of the prosecution offered little substance on the issues being debated before the impeachment court.

“Well, since day one, they only state ad hominems. They do not talk about the substance that is being discussed in the impeachment court,” Barbers said.

An ad hominem is a personal attack resorted to when the attacker has nothing substantial to say.

“In fact, what we saw and what we observed is that when ad hominems are their strategy, it is because they don’t understand what’s being discussed,” he added.

For Zamora, the message is simple: she is in the impeachment court to do a job — not to win approval online.

“I don’t care if they bash me,” she said. “I’m here to do my job.”