House prosecutor Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua is troll-proof at this point, after having been subject to years of bashing from no-name keyboard warriors.

"Ako, hindi ko na talaga pinapansin ’yan. Basta kami, focus lang kami sa aming trabaho,” Chua said in a Quezon City news forum, ahead of day 10 of Vice President Sara Duterte's Senate impeachment trial.

(As for me, I don't pay attention to them anymore. We're just focused on our job as far as we're concerned.)

No stranger to online attacks, Chua said he encountered such criticisms in the previous 19th Congress during the House quad-committee (quad-comm) and Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearings on controversies involving the Duterte family.

“Ako kasi, sanay na ako sa trolls. Mga ilang taon na—’yung mga lumabas noong quad-comm, noong good government—sandamakmak na trolls na,” he said.

(I’m used to trolls. It’s been years now—the ones that came out during quad-comm, during good government—countless trolls already.

Chua said responding to these online attacks would only divert the prosecution from its responsibility before the Senate impeachment court.

Vice President Duterte's conviction via impeachment trial is being sought over her offices' alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds; untruthful declarations in the filing of her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth; unexplained wealth; and death threats to President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.

He described public forums as opportunities to explain the proceedings and help Filipinos distinguish evidence presented in court from claims circulating online.

“Kaya nga malaking bagay ’yung mga ganitong forum para at least naliliwanagan at nauunawaan ng ating mga kababayan,” Chua said.

(That’s why forums like these are important, so our fellow citizens can be enlightened and understand.)

Chua warned that edited clips and inaccurate accounts about the high-stakes trial could remove statements from their proper context.

“Uso ngayon ang mga trolls, mga spliced videos, mga mali-maling information,” he said, without mentioning anybody in particular.

(Trolls are common now, spliced videos, wrong information.)

“Kaya nga po, hinihiling ko sa ating mga kababayan, para hindi po sila malilinlang, manood po sila [ng trial],” Chua said.

(That’s why I ask our fellow citizens, so they won’t be deceived, to watch the trial themselves)

The lawyer-solon says impeachment court is where witnesses and documents are formally presented and tested. Duterte’s defense may challenge the prosecution’s evidence and present its own case.

Chua says the most reliable response to competing narratives is for Filipinos to follow the trial and assess the complete presentations of both sides.

“Panoorin po nila ’yung nagaganap na impeachment nang sa ganoon, hindi po sila naliligaw at hindi po sila nalilinlang sa mga lumalabas ngayon sa social media."

(Let them watch the impeachment proceedings so they won’t be misled and deceived by what’s coming out now on social media.)