Awra Briguela claps back against bullying remarks: 'I’m focusing on myself and my transitioning era'
Awra Briguela addressed online criticism and made it clear that she is no longer letting the opinions of bashers stand in the way of her transitioning journey.
On X, a user shared a screenshot of Briguela clapping back at a basher who appeared to be making fun of her appearance.
"'Yung mouthpiece talaga nagdala," the basher commented, to which the comedienne replied, "'Yung ngipin ko limang taon na sahod mo."
The X user then gave their two cents on Briguela's reply, saying, "There is a better way naman siguro to answer that basher. Remember nagka-kaso si Awra before. Sana nagpakabait nalang siya, rather than being matapobre."
Following this, Briguela reshared the post and explained why she chose to clap back against the basher in that way.
"You’ve all been bullying me online, picking on me every single day. You’ve been transphobic and homophobic toward me, yet you never hear anything from me in response. I chose peace. I chose to ignore everything, even though I was getting hurt every single day, despite not doing anything to any of you," she wrote.
"You enjoyed doing that because, for so long, I chose not to stand up for myself. But when I finally do, I’m suddenly the bad person? It’s 2026, yet so many of you still enjoy bullying someone who is trying to grow, improve, and redeem herself from past mistakes," she added,
She went on to lament how she's "tired of being the bigger person."
"This year, I’m focusing on myself and my transitioning era. I promise myself that I will no longer give transphobes the freedom to bully me," Briguela stressed.
"One thing I should’ve done sooner was be meaner to those transphobes. I don’t care anymore. I will stand up for myself this time," she ended.
In the comments section, many showered her with messages of support.
"Some people are so good at this, painting someone as a villain their whole life for one mistake. You are loved by your friends and family, Awra. I hope you will heal from the pain you've received all this time," one user wrote.
Another commented, "Hindi uubra sa bashers ang maging 'the bigger person.' Fight fire with fire. Matatapang lang ang mga 'yan kasi ang iba anonymous or ang iba naman peke ang persona online. Tama 'yan, patulan ang mga dapat patulan."
There were others, however, who were still critical.
"Since when naging 'defending myself' 'yung making fun of other people's income? ['Di] pa rin talaga niya nagegets na may platform siya for trans and queer people and dapat talaga maging example siya sa mga fans niya[,]" one X user said.
Briguela uses she and her pronouns and has been vocal about her stance against homophobic comments regarding her appearance.
She previously spoke candidly about her feelings about her body as a trans woman. While she acknowledged that she has the option to take pills and undergo hormone replacement therapy to make herself more feminine, she explained that she chooses not to.
"Why? ‘Cuz I’m still loving the fact that I can freely express both my masculine and feminine side and if you think that your words can hurt me having this body well think again," Briguela said.