TOPACIO'S MISOGYNY IS THE FACE OF DDS CULTURE: WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED

In the first week of Women’s Month—a time meant to honor and uplift Filipino women—Topacio chose instead to weaponize his radio platform to slut-shame, demean, and intimidate women who dared to speak up. This is not commentary. This is harassment. This is abuse dressed up in a suit and a law degree.

Let us be absolutely clear about what Topacio did: on his radio program ‘Yes Yes Yo Topacio’ on DWIZ, he attacked Jasmine Curtis-Smith for defending her sister, actress Anne Curtis, against the objectifying remarks of Quezon City Congressman Bong Suntay. Rather than address the substance of the criticism—that it is wrong to use a woman as a prop in an analogy to defend an accused murderer’s ally—Topacio went straight for the gutter. He pointed to Jasmine’s social media posts and asked, “Ikaw, Jasmine, bakit ka nagpo-post ng mga bikini pictures mo? Hindi ba para ikaw ay pagnasahan?”

This is victim-blaming. This is the logic of rape culture—that a woman’s appearance, choices, and body are open invitations for objectification, and that she forfeits her right to dignity and to speak the moment she dares to be visible. It is the same rancid logic used by abusers and their enablers for centuries to silence women. And it is completely, utterly unacceptable.

That Topacio has the audacity to deploy this logic as a licensed officer of the court is a disgrace to the legal profession.

Hindi ito kataka-taka. Ito ang tunay na mukha ng DDS. Topacio has long served as one of the most vocal defenders of the Duterte camp—the same camp whose patriarch now sits detained at The Hague facing charges of crimes against humanity. The Duterte political culture that Topacio champions is one that has consistently treated women as objects, as targets, as acceptable casualties. We have seen it in the former President’s own rape jokes from the highest podium in the land. We see it now in his apologists who attack any woman who refuses to stay quiet.

Topacio’s outburst against Rep. Elago—a duly elected representative of Filipino women in the House of Representatives—is a direct attack on women’s political participation. It is an attempt to bully a woman legislator into silence precisely because she is doing her job: defending women’s rights and holding power accountable.

We call on the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to investigate Ferdinand Topacio for conduct unbecoming of a lawyer. We call on DWIZ and its network management to immediately review and account for the content aired on Topacio’s program. We call on the Congressional Committee on Women and Gender Equality to take cognizance of this matter and act accordingly.

To Jasmine Curtis-Smith and every woman who has been attacked, shamed, or threatened simply for speaking up: your courage is seen, and you do not stand alone.

To Topacio and every apologist who thinks Women’s Month is the right time to remind women of their place: kayo ang dapat na mapahiya—at panagutin.

Women’s Month is not a celebration—it is a battleground. And we are not backing down. ###