The Tamesis
March 5, 2026
Manila – Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay’s comments drew strong public condemnation and sparked new discussions within the country’s legislative bodies about ethics and the broader culture.
On Tuesday, March 3, during the House impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, Santé made comments that cited actress Anne Curtis by name, which many considered inappropriate.
For Dr. Alicor Panao, a data scientist at The Inquirer and an associate professor at the University of the Philippines, “This incident is about more than just rhetoric.”
“This highlights who dominates the deliberative space and how institutional culture often reflects imbalances in numbers,” he said.
Panau pointed out that data from the United Nations Development Program showed that women would hold only 27.46% of seats in the House of Representatives in 2023.
“For a country with two female presidents, this number reveals an ongoing paradox – breakthroughs in leadership at the top but unequal representation in the House of Representatives where the law is made,” Panau said.
He also cited regional comparisons, noting that while the Philippines performed better than Japan (15.7%) and Thailand (16%), it lagged behind Timor-Leste (36.9%) and Nepal (33.2%), and slightly behind Singapore (29.1%).
Panau added that a recent study found that while women’s electoral opportunities have expanded, many female politicians come from established political dynasties, “limiting the breadth of representation.”
“This shows that achieving true equality remains a long process that requires not only expanding women’s representation in Congress, but also confronting institutional barriers and cultural thinking that continue to define politics as a male-dominated sphere,” he said.
San Juan Rep. Isabel María Zamora immediately moved to remove Santé’s remarks during Women’s Month from the hearing record. Suntay objected, saying there was nothing “sexual” about his comments.
Curtis’ sister, actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith, condemned the statement, calling Shantae a “disgusting man.”
“When a member of Congress openly recounts his ‘desires’ and imaginings of women he once saw (or dreamed of, I know his statements kept changing), it reinforces a culture that treats women as consumable, as spectacle, as fantasy, as objects of commentary, rather than as full human beings with agency, intelligence and autonomy,” she said.
Suntay later apologized for his remarks about the actress but insisted there was no malice and said his remarks were just to make a point.
