Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte asked Rep. Bong Suntay to apologize over the “inappropriate” remark he made about actress Anne Curtis during a House hearing on Tuesday.
“I urge Congressman Bong Suntay to apologize for the inappropriate remarks that he made at a recent House committee hearing,” Belmonte said in a statement.
“We call on Congressman Suntay to take full accountability for his remarks, issue a proper apology, and conduct himself with the dignity that his office—and our city—demand. Our people deserve no less,” she added.
Belmonte said Suntay’s remarks about Curtis “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. In this context, it is truly disappointing to witness Congressman Suntay’s casual display of objectification, on Women’s Month no less,” she said.
Belmonte said she found the incident “troubling,” especially because Suntay, as a former City Council member, was part of the body that passed the city’s Gender and Development Code.
Suntay was also the majority leader when the city council passed the Bawal Bastos Ordinance, which declares that lewd, malicious, and demeaning remarks and acts have no place in public life.
Quezon City instituted the policy in 2016, ahead of the passage of the national Safe Spaces Act.
“Our policies are a declaration of our city’s values—of what we stand for and what we refuse to tolerate. We expect our elected officials to be the first to live by them,” Belmonte said.
“Thus, it is clear to me: We must not hesitate to push back against any act that undermines the dignity of our women. We must continue to stand for their safety, dignity, and equality—without exception and without compromise, she added.
On Tuesday, members of the House committee on justice called out Suntay for verbalizing his apparent desire for actress Anne Curtis during the proceedings on the pending impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Suntay argued that his thoughts about Curtis are not criminal, as he defended Duterte’s remark about skipping the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2024 as the self-appointed “designated survivor.”
The “designated survivor” concept in US politics refers to a government official in the presidential line of succession who is kept away from an event that convenes the government in one place in case of a catastrophic event. It is also the title of a television series about one such official after a bomb kills the president during his address to Congress.
Suntay—who also defended Duterte’s declaration that she had contracted a hitman to kill the President if she were killed—said, “The statement being the designated survivor, it’s not illegal, it’s not criminal, in fact it’s a process in the United States. Hindi nga pwede ‘yon [sa Pilipinas] eh. Sinabi lang niya ‘yun. siguro nagpapatawa lang siya.”
He then upped the ante by saying, “Lastly, alam niyo minsan, 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 ano’ng pwedeng mangyari pero siyempre hanggang imagination na lang ‘yon. Pero ‘di naman siguro ako pwedeng kasuhan kung ano ang na-imagine ko eh.”
(One time, I saw Anne Curtis, and she was so beautiful. You know, I had a desire inside me, I was heated. I imagined what could happen, but of course that stays in the imagination. But surely I can’t be charged for what I imagined.)
This prompted House justice panel chairperson Belle Zamora of San Juan to move to strike Suntay’s comments off the record, which was approved via a vote.
Suntay, however, maintained that he did nothing wrong.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
