Karen Davila on backlash after moderating 2016 presidential debate: ‘It petrified me’

Karen Davila recounted facing backlash after she moderated the 2016 presidential debate, admitting it “traumatized” her and prompted her to take a break from social media.

The veteran broadcast journalist spoke about this during an interview on “Beyond the Exchange with Rico Hizon,” which aired last Saturday, Oct. 24. The topic was brought up after she was asked how she deals with negative comments online.

“So I think my first trauma with the comment section, and I’d like to share it was during the presidential elections of 2016, when troll farms were born,” she recalled. “So I moderated the presidential debate, and a friend called me and said, ‘Do not open Facebook. Don’t open Instagram.’ Why? ‘Oh my God, Karen, you’re hated.’ So I read all of it, and that time in 2016, it petrified me.”

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At the time, Davila was accused of being “biased” after asking then-presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte hard-hitting questions.

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During the interview, Davila further lamented receiving threats and remarks dragging her family members including her son in the autism spectrum.

“Actually, in 2016, I turned off my comment section, my social media for one week,” she noted. “You know, people think it doesn’t traumatize you. Today, no more because it’s been a while; it’s 2026 now. But in the start of the troll farms in 2016, that was so engineered.”

“I ended up double — I’m questioning myself for a while there, you know. And I think journalists all over the world. I mean, in the Trump administration today, you can imagine what journalists go through in that same breath,” she continued. “So today, though, I read the comment sections, yes, but I don’t engage at all.”

Aside from Davila, also featured in the “Beyond the Exchange with Rico Hizon” interview were fellow journalists Jeff Canoy and Karmina Constantino, who also spoke against the derogatory remarks and accusations they faced for doing their job.

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Meanwhile, just recently, Davila also became a topic of discussions among netizens after her statement about empowered women back in June resurfaced on social media.

“I believe many women work hard. But I would advise young women listening to me today, you cannot be an empowered woman kung umaasa ka ng pera sa boyfriend mo o sa asawa mo,” she said during a vlog featuring actress Aiko Melendez.

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“Masakit po ito pakinggan, but a truly empowered woman is a financially independent woman,” she noted. “Baka magalit ang ibang housewives, ‘wag po kayo magalit but that’s the truth.”

While there were those who agreed with the broadcast journalist, some criticized her statement and argued how it is supposedly dismissive of the different circumstances women face.

While Davila did not address outright the mixed reactions over her resurfaced remark, she appeared to have stood by her statement by sharing a quote on her X page.

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Economic empowerment is a part of women empowerment. When the woman has the ability to earn her own income, own property, access capital, build a business and make financial decisions, she gains something fundamental: The power to make choices about her own life.

— Karen Davila (@iamkarendavila) October 22, 2026

“Economic empowerment is a part of women empowerment. When the woman has the ability to earn her own income, own property, access capital, build a business and make financial decisions, she gains something fundamental: the power to make choices about her own life,” she said. /ra