A salacious testosterone-fueled remark during a House hearing on impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte prompted the Justice Committee on Tuesday to order parts of a lawmaker’s statements deleted from the official record.
The controversy began when Quezon City Rep. Jesus Suntay weighed in following the playing of a video showing Duterte saying she had named herself the “designated survivor” to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“You know, the statement about being the ‘designated survivor,’ it’s not illegal, it’s not criminal. In fact, it’s a process in the United States,” said Suntay, adding that Duterte may have been joking.
But Suntay then veered off topic, recounting an encounter with actress Anne Curtis.
“Lastly, you know, one time I saw Anne Curtis — she’s really very beautiful. You know, I felt desire inside me, I really heated up, and I just imagined what could happen, but of course it stayed in my imagination. Surely I can’t be charged for what I imagined,” he said in Filipino, trying to draw a parallel with Duterte’s remark.
His imagining drew protests in the hearing room.
“Madam Chair, I would like to have those statements stricken off the record,” said San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora.
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. added, “I want that deleted from the record!”
Panel chairperson Gerville Luistro ruled the statements expunged, noting that if a member’s manifestation offends colleagues’ sensitivities, “then it means we are crossing the boundaries already.”
Zamora reminded Suntay that March is Women’s Month and that such comments “do not empower women.”