[DECODED] Women leaders pay heavy price for criticizing government

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In a functioning democracy, criticizing those in power is a healthy way of keeping your leaders in check. It’s a way for governments and institutions to get a better understanding of what needs fixing, and how they can serve their constituents better.

It’s also common for critics to be met with some pushback. But for women politicians in the Philippines, criticizing the government can make you a target for gendered attacks.

Intimate relationships — real or imagined — are put under a microscope. Alleged sex tapes become the talk of the town. Their intelligence and credentials are belittled in ways that make misogynists believe women are not capable of leading.

The Nerve scanned public Facebook posts from the past 15 years until March 20, 2025, containing mentions of four prominent Filipina politicians — former vice president Leni Robredo, former senator Leila de Lima, Senator Risa Hontiveros, and Vice President Sara Duterte — as well as mentions of misogynistic keywords compiled over the years.

Data showed that gendered attacks against these women leaders significantly spiked after former president Rodrigo Duterte, infamous for his sexist remarks and “institutionalizing” disinformation, was elected president in 2016.

The Nerve’s analysis also found that when political leaders are misogynist, gendered attacks against their critics greatly outnumber gendered attacks against their allies. Online attacks also frequently echo statements from sexist leaders and other prominent figures.

Spike in attacks vs Robredo

Of the four politicians, Robredo had the highest number of mentions in gendered attacks analyzed by The Nerve, taking up over 47% of the dataset.

Her vice presidency was marked by disagreements with then-president Duterte, and hounded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s refusal to accept her victory and his defeat in the 2016 vice presidential election. This made Robredo the de facto leader of the opposition and among the top targets of disinformation at the time.

There were two notable spikes in gendered attacks against Robredo — the first in 2017, the first full year of her vice presidency, and in 2022, in the lead-up to the presidential elections which she eventually lost.

Before the Duterte and Marcos families fell out and their networks split, their supporters worked overtime in attacking Robredo online. Pro-Duterte users attacked her for her criticism of the war on drugs, while pro-Marcos users would constantly belittle her position as vice president. The 2022 presidential election also saw a rematch between Marcos and Robredo, which led to another surge in attacks against her. (READ: On social media, it’s a two-way presidential race between Marcos, Robredo)

At least one page repeatedly called her “lugaw de puta” — a combination of the “lugaw” tag given by trolls and the Spanish phrase “hijo de puta” (son of a whore).

Robredo was also frequently portrayed as an unintelligent leader, with users, vloggers, and even politicians calling her “boba,” “tanga,” (dumb or stupid), and “lutang” (scatterbrained). Some of her statements would be taken out of context to purposefully make her sound stupid.

Hontiveros: ‘Boba’ and terrorist

Senator Risa Hontiveros was also called “boba” and “tanga,” and sometimes she was referred to as “Hontivirus.” Mentions of Hontiveros took up 22% of The Nerve’s dataset, and attacks against her also spiked in 2017, after she was elected to the Senate.

In 2017, Duterte himself slammed Hontiveros for stating his government had a “policy” of killing drug suspects, following the killings of Kian delos Santos and Carl Arnaiz. Duterte responded, “Do you think two killings, even if it’s illegal, makes a policy?…. Napakabobo naman niyan (That’s so stupid).”

Facebook users echoed the former president’s attack, humiliating Hontiveros online.

Attacks on Hontiveros also linked her to terrorism. Following the Marawi siege of 2017, fake quote cards claimed she praised the terrorist Maute group, which she personally debunked. She was also attacked for explaining that the siege did not align with the Constitution’s definitions of a rebellion or invasion, and even presidential daughter Sara Duterte suggested she was abetting crime.

Most vicious attacks vs De Lima

But it was former senator De Lima, perhaps the fiercest of Duterte’s drug war critics, who faced one of the most vicious, misogynistic campaigns in recent Philippine history. Her once-shining reputation as a justice and human rights advocate was destroyed nearly overnight.

De Lima was hit by a slew of sexist attacks starting 2016, when she was elected senator and when Duterte became president. Her mentions took up over 41% of The Nerve’s dataset.

A viral spliced video that supposedly showed De Lima “admitting” to protecting drug lords — a claim that has been fact-checked — made her a prime target for supporters of Duterte’s drug war.

Hypersexualized attacks against the former senator followed. De Lima was criticized for her alleged sex video with her former bodyguard, Ronnie Dayan, accused of supposedly collecting drug money on her behalf. The video was supposed to prove the two, both falsely linked to the Bilibid drug trade, had a personal relationship.

Users online slut-shamed the former senator, and false claims surrounding the said video were even promoted by Duterte himself.

De Lima never confirmed if the video was real, but she did admit to having a years-long affair with Dayan. But some lawmakers even talked about showing the alleged video during a congressional probe — a “misogynist” move that De Lima’s female colleagues condemned.

Some posts also claimed Robredo and Hontiveros, who are both widowed, were romantically linked to different men. Robredo has repeatedly been linked to former congressman Jorge “Bolet” Banal, a claim that’s been fact-checked.

Most recently, sock puppet accounts that spread propaganda against Hontiveros’ anti-adolescent pregnancy bill baselessly claimed the senator was a mistress of an unnamed man. These accounts also called Hontiveros a pedophile, alluding to false claims that comprehensive sexuality education would teach young children to masturbate.

Of the three women leaders, Hontiveros still deals with significant gendered attacks and harassment today as she continues to represent the opposition in the Senate. Attacks on Robredo have subsided since she left national politics. De Lima is now a free woman and has been cleared of all drug charges, but she’s struggled to reenter public office since her reputation took a hit.

What about Sara?

Vice President Duterte remains incredibly popular among her family’s supporters, and has the privilege of being defended by an active social media army.

Of the four politicians, she had the smallest share of gendered attacks — just 2.75% — in The Nerve’s dataset. She was previously aligned with the administration, which meant she was largely safe from sexist attacks usually hurled towards opposition politicians.

But after the confidential funds fiasco, her public fallout with President Marcos, and a string of impeachment cases, attacks against the Vice President spiked starting in 2024.

Since then, Duterte’s allies have attempted to paint the Vice President as an opposition figure. After all, she’s no longer friends with the President, and Marcos supporters began calling her “tanga” for her various statements on the Marcos family.

This included her decision to skip Marcos’ State of the Nation Address as the “designated survivor,” and her statement on exhuming the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ body and throwing it into the sea.

A previous Rappler report also found that users, who are not necessarily Marcos supporters, also made light of her experience as a rape victim. In fact, some of these attacks were shared by anti-Duterte and/or pro-Robredo users during the Duterte administration.

What’s terrifying about all of this is that even the most powerful of women aren’t free from widespread misogyny and sexism. So what could this mean for the rest of us? — with reports from Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

Decoded is a Rappler series that explores the challenges and opportunities that come with living in transformative times. It is produced by The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative & network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.