No suspension for Bong Suntay over remarks about Anne Curtis

MANILA, Philippines – Quezon City 4th District Representative Bong Suntay avoided suspension for his inappropriate remarks about actress Anne Curtis.

During Suntay’s plenary speech defending Cavite 4th District Representative Kiko Barzaga, who was on the verge of being expelled from the House, Suntay thanked his colleagues who defended him during ethics committee deliberations.

“I, too, once experienced going through the ethics committee and faced the risk of suspension because of an analogy I shared during a committee deliberation. I am grateful to my colleagues who stood up to prevent me from being penalized with suspension. And just as they stood up to protect my right to speak, I now stand up to fight for the right of one of our colleagues here in the House,” Suntay said on Tuesday, June 2.

Suntay drew condemnation in March for sharing during a House justice committee hearing that he had sexual fantasies about Curtis.

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Suntay brought up Curtis in an attempt to defend Vice President Sara Duterte, who once said she had imagined decapitating President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. That statement is among the grounds cited in her impeachment case.

The congressman later apologized to those who supposedly deduced malice in his statement.

“The woman is not a joke, she is not a fantasy, and the dignity of women should never be made the subject of humor within Congress,” House committee on women and gender equality chair Ann Matibag previously said in her plenary speech calling for an ethics probe into Suntay’s remarks.

Curtis released a statement on March 7, saying she does not accept Suntay’s “non-apology.”

“Since you used me as an example, let me use you as one too. You’ve become the poster boy of something much bigger: a culture that still thinks it’s acceptable to talk about women this way. Worse, one that tolerates it from our leaders. As they say, misogyny dressed up as a joke is still misogyny,” Curtis said.

Suntay was subsequently subjected to an ethics committee case, but the committee never revealed its findings. – Rappler.com

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