Quezon City 4th District Representative Bong Suntay issued an apology Wednesday to those offended by his remarks about actress and TV host Anne Curtis, but maintained that his analogy was not intended to be malicious.
In a DZMM radio interview, Suntay said:
“I stand by that analogy that I made but if some people were offended, lalo na Women’s Month, I’m sorry for those who were offended but if you read the context talaga, there was nothing malicious in it,”
He added:
“Depende kung bibigyan ng malice nung nagbasa…Pasensiya na po. To make it appear offensive was not the intention.”
Suntay drew criticism after saying during the March 3 House justice committee hearing that he had “desires” upon seeing Curtis.
He compared this to Vice President Sara Duterte’s past statement about wanting to cut off President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s head, arguing that both were imagined scenarios.
San Juan Lone District Representative Ysabel Zamora moved to have the remark stricken from the record, saying it was inappropriate.
Defending his statement, Suntay explained that it was hypothetical since he had only seen Curtis on television.
“I stand by it. Ang ganda-ganda pala niya. Pero hanggang doon na lang. Ang punto ko lang na I wanted to drive at—something that you imagine, something that you desire, ano yan, it is not an impeachable offense if there were no overt acts, which was done,” he said.
He added that his analogy was meant to highlight context in the impeachment complaints against Duterte, noting her controversial remark stemmed from an incident where Marcos allegedly humiliated a child who asked for his watch as a graduation gift.
“Ang punto ko, a lot of people they take a statement out of context kasi that analogy was made dun sa one of the articles in the complaints against Vice-President Sara Duterte… Ang imagination ba—is it an impeachable offense or a criminal offense? Kaya ako gumawa nang analogy.”
Suntay has also faced accusations of defending Duterte, particularly after denying that cash envelopes distributed by her office to DepEd officials amounted to bribery.