House orders Suntay to issue public apology, undergo sensitivity training, over lewd comments vs. Anne Curtis

The House of Representatives has ordered Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay to issue a public apology to actress Anne Curtis, as well as undergo gender sensitivity training, over the lawmaker’s obscene remarks on Curtis during the impeachment hearing against Vice President Sara Duterte.

This developed after the House approved the ethics panel's recommendation to reprimand Suntay via 263 yes votes, eight negative votes and seven abstentions.

The ethics case against Suntay stemmed from the complaints filed by Suntay’s colleagues and Curtis herself over Suntay’s remarks wherein he said he felt sudden heat and imagined a lot of things upon seeing how beautiful Curtis was.

The Quezon City legislator said such imagination and desire is not a crime, in the same vein that Vice President Duterte’s desire to remove the head of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and designation of herself as designated survivor is no crime and not a serious threat.

“After deliberation on the cases, the Committee found Quezon City 4th District Rep. Jesus ‘Bong’ C. Suntay guilty of disorderly behavior for uttering inappropriate or improper statements during the March 3, 2026 hearing of the House Committee on Justice, as well as for related statements made on social media that the Committee said reflected negatively on the dignity, integrity, and reputation of the House of Representatives as an institution,” House ethics panel chairperson 4PS Party-list Rep. JC Abalos said in his sponsorship speech of his committee’s findings.

“The Committee recommended that Congressman Suntay be subjected to disciplinary action in the form of a reprimand under Section 52(b)(2), Rule 9 of the Committee Rules. It also recommended that he render voluntary community service, undergo a gender sensitivity seminar organized by the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality, and issue a public apology to Ms. Anne Curtis-Smith and all women in a statement to be read before television or broadcast media,” Abalos added.

Suntay has previously maintained that his remarks contained no malice, and that he was sorry for those who were offended.

Actress Curtis, however, dismissed Suntay’s statements as non-apology and said she was considering taking legal action.

“I do not accept your non-apology. But I also will not carry this as a personal wound. I do, however, accept your wife's apology,” Curtis said at that time.

“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. We deserve better,” Curtis added. — LA, GMA News