Metro Manila, Philippines – Actress Anne Curtis broke her silence after the controversial remarks of Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay and lent her voice to support women against sexism.
“I do not accept your non-apology. But I also will not carry this as a personal wound,” Curtis said on her social media pages on Saturday, March 7.
She said she accepts the apology issued by the lawmaker’s wife, Sheila Guevara, explaining that the actress knows “that particular kind of embarrassment, that helplessness, that quiet grief of watching someone choose so poorly in public,” his partner must be feeling.
“To her, and to your children: this is not your shame,” Curtis said, adding that they did nothing wrong and deserved to be left out of the issue.
Suntay said that he felt a “desire” within him upon seeing Curtis, a remark that he said was just his imagination to argue that they cannot possibly sue Vice President Sara Duterte for her imagination as well against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The lawmaker’s “nag-init” remarks were made during the House justice committee deliberations on Duterte’s impeachment and were stricken from the records.
He apologized to Curtis and others who were offended, but he stood by his analogy and maintained there was no malice in the statement.
For Curtis, it was a “vulgar, sexualized analogy” as her name was “disgustingly used” without her consent, in the wrong context, and “without an ounce of respect.”
She criticized “casual sexism disguised as clever remarks.”
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The 41-year-old celebrity said she is seeking legal advice and will consider all options on the matter.
“To the [House] ethics committee: I hope you do not let this pass. The integrity of public office depends on the standards it upholds,” she said.
Suntay’s remarks were referred to the ethics panel. A group of women advocates also filed an ethics complaint against Suntay.
Suntay could face censure or suspension at worst.
Fighting against sexism
Curtis said she was initially shocked, hurt, disturbed, and angry with what she called the “perverted” nature of Suntay’s remarks.
But she acknowledged that it was not a rare instance, with women encountering it daily in various settings.
“What made this incident different is that it came from someone holding public office,” she said.
Curtis said Suntay has become the “poster boy” of a “culture that still thinks it’s acceptable to talk about women this way. Worse, one that tolerates it from our leaders. As they say, misogyny dressed up as a joke is still misogyny.”
She called out the lawmaker that women and taxpayers are not props to his commentary.
“Every time a remark like this goes unchallenged, we lower the bar for what leadership looks like. Every time a woman is reduced to a cheap remark by someone holding a position of public trust, and nothing happens…we tell the next generation of women exactly where they stand,” she said.
That is what I refuse to accept.”
Curtis also thanked those who used their voice to stand up for women’s rights.
“If anyone is wondering why Women’s Month still matters — this is exactly why,” she said.
The country is celebrating the first week of March as Women’s Week and March 8 as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day.
