Quezon City 4th District Representative Bong Suntay is facing complaints filed with the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged violations of the Safe Spaces Act, the Magna Carta of Women, and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials after making sexually suggestive comments about actress and TV host Anne Curtis.
On Friday, members of World March of Women (WMW)-Pilipinas marched to the Ombudsman carrying a banner that read “Hold Misogynists Accountable” to formally lodge the complaint, two days ahead of International Women’s Day.
The nine complainants included WMW-Pilipinas National Coordinator Jean Enriquez and Joanna Coronacion of SENTRO-Women.
Enriquez stressed that the Safe Spaces Act penalizes misogynistic and sexist remarks, as well as persistent unwanted comments on appearance and sexual jokes.
“Sa ilalim nito, malinaw na ang gender-based violence kasama ang sexual harassment ay isang pampublikong krimen. Ibig sabihin maaaring magsampa ng kaso ang sinuman na nakasaksi o may personal knowledge tungkol sa paglabag sa batas na ito,” Enriquez said.
The complaint stems from Suntay’s remarks during Tuesday’s House Committee on Justice deliberations, where he defended Vice President Sara Duterte’s controversial statement by drawing an analogy involving Curtis. He later admitted the analogy was inappropriate.
“Nag-a-apologize ako sa mga taong nasaktan. That analogy should not have been made. If people would want to judge me, yung pagkatao ko based from one statement and forget everything I’ve done in public service since 1998, then I cannot fault them,” Suntay said.
“That mistake has been made… May backlash ‘yan. I deserve the backlash,” he added.
Aside from the Ombudsman case, Suntay is also facing a separate ethics complaint before the House of Representatives.