If you still need proof that Congress remains a boys’ club in 2026, look no further because Quezon City 4th District Representative Bong Suntay is ready to disappoint.
The returning lawmaker sparked outcry on Tuesday, March 3, for making sexually suggestive remarks about actress Anne Curtis during a House hearing that does not involve the celebrity… at all.
Yes, he made what many saw as misogynistic comments during the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, leaving the sexual implications to the imagination while objectifying Curtis.
The House justice committee was deliberating the impeachment complaint against Duterte endorsed by Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima. One of the grounds De Lima cited was the alleged acts of the Vice President to destabilize the government, including Duterte’s admission that she once fantasized about decapitating President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Suntay, who was the staunchest defenders of Duterte in that hearing, came up with what has been seen as the insensitive analogy in defense of the vice president.
“I was at Shangri-La and saw Anne Curtis — she’s really very beautiful in person. I felt a strong surge of desire inside me and started imagining what could happen, but of course it stayed in my imagination. I probably can’t be sued just for something I imagined,” Suntay said in Filipino.
The committee immediately removed his statement from the record, following a motion raised by San Juan Representative Bel Zamora.
“It is just the start of the Women’s Month, and I don’t think we should be hearing such comments from our colleague,” Zamora said.
Suntay’s comments later prompted Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte to decry the congressman’s “casual display of objectification, on Women’s Month no less,” and urged him to apologize.
“What makes this incident especially troubling is the fact that, as a former member of our City Council, he was part of the body that passed our Gender and Development Code,” Belmonte said.
“His words directly contradict the spirit of empowerment that we have worked hard to build here in Quezon City. Over the years, we have embraced the difficult work of establishing protections for women, constantly striving to honor their rights by creating safe spaces and opportunities for them,” she added.
Actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith also later came to the defense of her sister.
“What a disgusting man. A father. A husband,” she said on X.
Suntay has maintained that there was nothing sexual in his comments, and that the It’s Showtime! host should take his remarks as a compliment.
What a shame. – Rappler.com