House Prosector and San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria “Bel” Zamora has addressed the edited clips of her questioning during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte that have circulated and been used for online content.
In an interview with DZRH’s Isyung Pambayan on Sunday, October 4, Zamora said there was nothing wrong with how she conducted her presentation during the proceedings.
“May mali ba sa ginagawa ko? Wala. Pero may mali sa mga ginagawa nila ngayon,” Zamora said.
Zamora said some of the videos circulating online had been spliced together, resulting in people judging her based on isolated clips.
“It’s funny, no, for people to judge you based on one clip. Yung iba nga doon nakakatawa. Pinag-splice-splice yung videos nila,” she said.
She also addressed criticism over her demeanor, particularly her tendency to smile while speaking during the proceedings.
“Anong demeanor? Na masyado akong palangiti? E gano’n ako talaga. In fact, people say that I’m very nice because I’m always smiling,” she said.
Zamora likewise defended her manner of speaking, saying she would not apologize for speaking fluent English or for her Filipino accent.
“Maarte ako magsalita, well sorry? I speak fluent English. And if people think that my Filipino, my Tagalog has an accent, then sorry. Well, I’m not apologizing really,” she said.
“It’s not something I’m gonna apologize for,” she added.
The lawmaker said her education contributed to the way she speaks and said she found it amusing that this had become a focus of the online content directed at her.
“My parents sent me to good school and I was able to develop very good language, better than a lot of people, so nakakatawa lang na ’yan ang pinagpupuntiryahan nila,” Zamora said.
Zamora said those producing such content should instead devote their attention to the issues being raised in the impeachment proceedings.
“Ang daming panahon, ang daming pondo na ginamit para gumawa ng gano’ng video. Siguro pagtuunan na lang nila yung merits ng kaso kesa yung naninira sila,” she said.
“I have all the means to respond to these people, after all lawyer ako, but ’wag na nating patulan, di ba? Baka sumikat lang sila,” Zamora said.
Zamora also thanked those who have supported her and understood her actions during the impeachment proceedings.
“I thank people who have been supporting me and who understand what I did, what I’m doing — yung kilala ka as hindi ka sinisiraan for no reason, di ba?” she said.
Her remarks came amid continued online criticism following her questioning of witnesses during the impeachment trial.
Zamora had earlier said she was unfazed by the attacks and maintained that she was simply doing her job as a member of the House prosecution panel.
The House Committee on Women and Gender Equality has also condemned what it described as misogynistic, sexualized and personal attacks against Zamora, stressing that political criticism should focus on issues and arguments rather than a woman’s appearance, voice, gender or mannerisms.
The issue has also drawn concern over the use of manipulated or AI-generated content targeting Zamora.
Former Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas recently condemned what she described as AI and deepfake attacks against the lawmaker, including sexualized material.
