Rep. Suntay called out over inappropriate remarks about Anne Curtis during House impeachment hearing
Quezon City 4th District Rep. Bong Suntay got into hot water over his inappropriate remarks towards Anne Curtis during the House Committee on Justice hearing on impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
On March 3, Suntay made a manifestation about how there's "nothing seditious" that can be attributed to Duterte's past statements against her former running-mate, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It can be recalled that the VP once called herself the "designated survivor" after she said she wasn't attending the 2024 State of the Nation Address.
"'Yung statement [...], it's not illegal, it's not criminal, in fact, it's a process in the United States. Mere utterance," he said. "Siguro nagpapatawa lang siya."
Suntay went on to share an anecdote of how one cannot be charged over their "imagination."
"Minsan nasa Shangri-La ako, nakita ko si Anne Curtis. Ang ganda-ganda pala niya. You know, may desire sa loob ko na nag-init talaga. Na-imagine ko na lang kung anong pwedeng mangyari, pero siyempre hanggang imagination lang 'yon," the lawmaker said.
"Hindi naman siguro ako pwedeng kasuhan dahil kung ano na-imagine ko eh."
These remarks were met with mixed reactions. Some were seen and heard laughing during the hearing, while San Juan Rep. Bel Zamora immediately called for the comments to be stricken from the records. The House panel voted 13-2-2 to remove Suntay's remarks.
Suntay maintained that his statements are not "immoral or illegal" and were supposedly not "sexual."
Zamora then proceeded to call him out.
"It is just the start of Women's Month, and I don't think that we should be hearing such comments from our dear colleagues. We are not censuring anything. We are reminding them that, in fact, we should support women by not saying these statements," she said.
House Committee on Justice Chairperson Rep. Gerville Luistro added that if the manifestation of a justice member offends the sensitivity of Justice members, "It means that we are crossing the boundaries. After all, we rule here by the judgment of the justice members."
Curtis has yet to issue a statement on the matter, as of writing.
The House Committee on Justice is deliberating on the sufficiency in substance of the impeachment complaints against Duterte.
