I was asked in a women’s month forum about what to do with comments on women being weak leaders, the kind that we encounter on social media when we talk about being on the side of Robredo-Pangilinan in this heavily polarized electoral exercise. The context of course is the notion that we remain a heavily patriarchal society, and as such, there is a basic, illogical, refusal to even consider a woman leader.

My answer was simple: I do not think that VP Leni’s womanhood is what’s being attacked, as much as it is her person. And yes, those can be one and the same, but in this particular case, given propaganda against her that’s run its course the past six years, and has escalated across this campaign, hindi ito tungkol sa pagiging anti-woman, tungkol ito sa pagiging anti-Leni.

This is the same VP Leni that’s been called Leni Lugaw for years, na nag-evolve to Leni Lutang, at nag-evolve to Lenlen nitong nakaraang ilang buwan. These three things are interconnected, and are part of a bigger narrative against VP Leni that the other side has galvanized into massive black propaganda. And sure, Leni Lugaw started with Duterte supporters and propagandists, pero ang matindi sa social media, wala naman nang tumitingin saan nagsimula. Ang lagi lang natin nakikita ay kung ano ang nasa harap natin. Ibig sabihin, sa iba man nagmula ang Leni Lugaw at bagama’t simpleng paninira lang ito noon, iba ang gamit nito sa kasalukuyan ng kampanya. That the other side has been able to evolve it into two different things based solely on the exercise of spreading spliced videos and fake news that frame the vice president as  incompetent and un-presidential—is the success of its campaign strat. They didn’t rest on the laurels of Lugaw, and as that was being turned into a positive, i.e., they shifted quickly to Lutang. 

It is also clear that these attacks on VP Leni cannot simply be equated with a patriarchal society that doesn’t want women leaders, because the kind of narrative frame that’s been built for Sara Duterte and the Marcos women are actually that of woman empowerment and independence. The Manang Imee stereotype is one that is useful for the BB campaign because it actually gives him complete and utter deniability: she is my Ate, she is the protector of the family, no one tells her what to do. That Imee is at the forefront of the Lenlen videos is no coincidence. The Tita Irene stereotype is also one of independence shrouded in mystery and borne of distance—she isn’t one to be interviewed, everything that’s released about her are personal videos or rare moments caught on camera, and it feeds into the way fans enjoy being mystified by their idols. Irene is the perfect Marcos for this, what with little engagement with the masses, except when it matters, i.e., an Ilocos festival where apparently all Marcos children have appeared to do some street dancing.

But it is Sara Duterte as powerful woman that is most interesting, because it has been able to transcend all criticism against her as basagulera, and has been used as a frame that includes her soft side—the parts that are about her being a mother, the bit about her being an obedient daughter, and that part that makes her her father’s daughter who is quick to crack jokes, has perfect timing, shows respect to the people around her, and is not one to talk about her opponents. The latter of course is part of that whole campaign’s strategy: it is built on the notion of unity, and anyone on the BBS stage seems to have agreed that there will be complete and utter silence on their political rivals.

But Sara outdoes them all in this exercise because she has been allowed to be herself. She is funny on this stage, is absolutely charming, and can build up a crowd like it’s nobody’s business. That whole “Kapag binato kayo ng bato, o kapag may nag-cancel sa inyo, batuhin niyo ng … burger!” might not work for us, but it totally works for a crowd built on this heavily polarized electoral space, which sees the put downs and has experienced the cancellation from the worst of the Liberal side. It also works because it is a Duterte doing it: ordering a crowd of followers how to respond to a situation is something we’ve seen the past six years. But Sara’s a woman, and younger, and doing it like a really cool mother would were she talking to her children.

Sara’s content also shows her as the every Pinay woman—shifting from fancy dresses to t-shirts and jeans, caring for her children but also for her city. But also it is layered with spunk and tapang—images of her on the motorbike, or getting ready for a ride, highlight how unconventional she also is, and how powerful.

So no, the attacks on VP Leni is not a measure of how “anti-woman” and “patriarchal” society—or this campaign—still is. It’s a measure of how successful the Duterte-Marcos side has been at keeping alive the frame against her as lugaw, lutang, lenlen VP. Because the powerful and empowered woman, the independent-minded Sara D, the protective Manang Imee, the mysterious Tita Irene, are used very well as woman-empowerment frames by the other side. They LOVE women there, and they frame their women there like they deserve to be championed for their work (let’s not even start about Gloria Arroyo and Toni Gonzaga.)

Which brings us to the obviously manufactured video content against Aika Robredo, if it exists at all beyond the screencaps of Google searches. THAT is of course patriarchy at work, and THAT is an attack on her credibility as a Robredo daughter, and is an attack on her as woman—after all, if she were a man, a sex video would be nothing, if not a source of price. (Aside: I was impressed by the first soundbites to come from VP Leni and Aika herself, very deadma, very carry on and move on. But the following day, the bold accusation came about the smear campaign coming from the Marcos camp surprised: after all, unless that is something they can prove—and quickly—it will only be used against Robredo, and prove the propaganda against them to be true: that they are the combative ones in this electoral campaign, the ones who will not push for unity. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. So close to May 9, we’re all battling for eyes, ears, and hearts at this point. End of aside.)

But what we should realize about the current landscape of (electoral) propaganda is that these strategies that shame and smear women’s reputations are built heavily on context that is on another algorithm altogether. The Marcos algorithm is one where a fake sex video would be totally believable (existing links or not), as it had set the stage for a superficial critique of the Robredo women since Aika and Tricia took an active part in calling for and doing the house-to-house campaigns. On the Marcos algo, content has been created against them to hit on their “pagiging anghel” or “pagiging malinis.” It’s as harmless as decontexualized tweets from the sisters; but it can escalate to this moment where fake videos are used to push the same narrative: akala niyo ang lilinis, madudumi rin naman. It won’t matter if it’s true or not; won’t even matter if it comes from them or not. It will feed the narrative that is ruinous to the Robredos.

Certainly, if there is anything VP Leni’s comms team should be prepping for, it’s the revival of the tsismis about her and Bolet Banal, and THAT will be an attack on her as woman. And given that all responses to the same the past six years has not been powerful enough a take down, I’d like to think that preparing for it is what will make a difference this time around. Because there is a powerful way of responding to kuyog and tsismis, and with only 27 days to go, we need to hear VP Leni as the powerful middle class woman she is, who has her own voice beyond this Liberal campaign, and who, I believe, would know exactly how to respond to unfounded cheap tsismis, without being elitist and dismissive about it.

Let VP Leni speak beyond her male spokespersons. We would all be the better for it. ***