The House of Representatives ordered a formal ethics investigation into remarks made by Quezon City 4th District Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay during a committee hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, after several lawmakers condemned the statements as disrespectful toward women.

The plenary action came after House Committee on Women and Gender Equality Chair Ann Matibag of Laguna’s 1st District delivered a privilege speech condemning Suntay’s remarks and called for the matter to be referred to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

Assistant Majority Leader Ysabel Maria Zamora, who also serves as vice chair of the Women and Gender Equality panel, formally moved to refer the speech to the ethics committee.

Deputy Speaker Janette Garin, who presided over the session, asked if there were objections. Hearing none, she declared the motion approved and referred the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

Zamora then moved to authorize the committee to convene a hearing to assess Suntay’s statements in relation to Matibag’s question of privilege, require him to appear before the panel, and immediately report its findings and recommendations to the plenary. The motion was approved without objection.

“I move to authorize the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to schedule a meeting to conduct a thorough assessment on the actuations and statements of Representative Jesus Bong C. Suntay relative to the question of privilege of Representative Anne Matibag; to require Representative Suntay to appear at the hearing; and to immediately report to the House its findings and recommendations,” Zamora said.

The issue stemmed from Tuesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Justice on the impeachment complaints against Duterte.

During the hearing, Suntay defended the Vice President against allegations that she threatened to have President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and other officials assassinated. In doing so, he used an analogy involving actress Anne Curtis to argue that imagination alone should not be treated as a real act in determining legal liability.

Recounting an encounter at a shopping mall, he said he felt a surge of desire upon seeing the actress and imagined what might happen, but stressed that such thoughts existed only in his imagination and could not be the basis for legal liability.

Lawmakers immediately objected to the remark, prompting Zamora, a vice chair of the Justice panel, to move that the statement be stricken from the record.

In her privilege speech, Matibag said the issue goes beyond a single remark and reflects the culture of respect lawmakers must uphold.

“Ang usaping ito ay hindi lamang tungkol sa batas. Ito ay tungkol sa kultura ng respeto na nais nating itaguyod sa ating lipunan,” Matibag said.

“Hayaan po nating maging malinaw: ang babae ay hindi biro, hindi rin siya pantasya, at ang dignidad ng kababaihan ay hindi kailanman dapat gawing katatawanan sa loob ng Kongreso,” she added.

Several lawmakers expressed support for referring the matter to the ethics panel.

Gabriela Party-list Rep. Sarah Jane Elago said remarks that objectify women could normalize harassment and discrimination.

“When a member of Congress speaks in a way that objectifies women, the harm extends far beyond. May real-life consequences ito sa mga babaeng nakakaranas ng iba’t ibang porma ng abuso at diskriminasyon sa araw-araw,” Elago said.

Akbayan Party-list Reps. Percival Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula urged lawmakers to lead by example in advancing gender equality and said disrespectful remarks toward women should not be tolerated in public institutions.

Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno supported Matibag’s call for accountability, saying “every human being deserves to be treated with dignity,” while Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Louise Co said lawmakers must set an example for younger generations.

Suntay later apologized to those offended by his remarks, saying the analogy may have been inappropriate but was not intended to cause harm.

“The analogy might have been in bad taste and may have been taken in the wrong context,” he said.

“If malice was deduced from that statement, I wish to apologize to those who were hurt,” Suntay added, saying he respects the decision of the House to refer the matter to the Ethics panel and would abide by its findings.