House panel strikes Suntay remarks about Anne Curtis from record

The House Committee on Justice on Tuesday ordered the deletion from its official records of remarks made by Quezon City Rep. Jesus Suntay referencing veteran actress Anne Curtis during deliberations on impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The statements were made during discussions on the Vice President’s earlier declaration that she was the “designated survivor.”

Suntay said, “You know, ‘yung statement being the ‘designated survivor,’ it’s not illegal, it’s not criminal. In fact, it’s a process in the United States.”

He added that Duterte might have been joking.

“Mere utterance na I’m designating myself… in fact, hindi nga puwede ‘yon eh. Can you designate yourself without a process Sinabi lang niya ‘yon, siguro nagpapatawa lang siya,” he said.

In an attempt to illustrate his point, Suntay shared an anecdote about seeing Curtis in a hotel.

“Lastly, alam niyo minsan… 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 syempre hanggang imagination na lang ‘yon. Pero ‘di naman siguro ako pwedeng kasuhan kung ano ang na-imagine ko eh,” he said.

His remarks drew immediate protests from committee members.

“Madam Chair, I would like to have those statements stricken off the record,” said San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria J. Zamora, a committee vice chairperson.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. supported the call, saying in a raised voice, “I want that deleted from the record!”

“Madam Chair I move to strike those statements from the record,” Zamora reiterated.

Before ordering the remarks expunged, Committee Chairperson Batangas Rep. Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro cautioned members.

“The Chair would like to state that if the manifestation of a member offends the sensitivity of the Justice Committee members, then it means we are crossing the boundaries already,” Luistro said.

“After all, we rule here by the judgment of the justice (committee) members,” she added.

Zamora also reminded Suntay that March marks Women’s Month.

“With all due respect to my friend Congressman Bong Suntay, it is just the start of the Women’s Month, and I don’t think that we should be hearing such comments from our dear colleagues. We’re not censuring anything, but we are reminding them that in fact, we should support women by not saying these statements… And things like this do not empower women,” she said.

Suntay defended his remarks, saying there was nothing “sexual,” “illegal nor immoral” about what he said.

“There is nothing sexual do’n sa sinabi ko, nothing immoral, it’s just, I said, may na-imagine ako, I think there is nothing wrong,” he said.

“I think we are starting a dangerous precedent, because now we are censuring manifestations which (are) neither illegal nor immoral. So imagine, we are conducting a hearing, but now statements which are neither immoral nor illegal can be stricken out of the record without any reason,” he added.