March has just begun. A time when society pretends to celebrate women, when politicians boast about progress, empowerment, and equality. And yet, in just the first week, a public official Congressman Bong Suntay chose to turn a solemn House Committee hearing into his own stage of sexual gratification.
“Lastly, you know, once when I was in Shangri-La, I saw Anne Curtis. She is really beautiful. You know, a desire inside me welled up, I felt the heat, and I just imagined what could happen, but of course, that is only my imagination. But I think I cannot be charged for what I was able to imagine,”. These very unsolicited and insulting remarks not only did disrespect the very time women are recognized and celebrated, but also the oppression women have been facing in history up until today.
Bong Suntay spoke of a female celebrity Anne Curtis, not as a person, not as a woman deserving of respect, but as an object — a vessel for his imagination and a canvas for his childish fantasies.
The way he described how he felt “in heat,” and how her beauty left him starstruck, just shows how men have reached this staggering point where they can comfortably and confidently talk about their lewd imaginations, not just in public, but in a formal hearing.
This is not merely “a man lost in thought.” This is a man wielding power to normalize objectification, to remind women that even in spaces of governance, even in rooms where justice is supposed to be served, we are still shrunk into bodies, scrutinized, dissected, fantasized about. Women are, almost always, if not all the time, reduced to mere physicality.
Our achievements, our intelligence, and our voices to speak about actual things that matter are irrelevant— and that is what makes it difficult and draining. Because women have so long been experiencing this oppression, discrimination, and sexist remarks from men. What matters is how we look, how we appear, how we are consumed by the male gaze. We are forced to dress for it, smile for it, navigate our existence around it, and yet men like Bong Suntay, a public official and “public servant” are granted impunity to vocalize their entitlement with zero accountability.
He said his comments were irrelevant, that they were imaginary, and that they were not illegal nor immoral. But it is precisely the irrelevance that makes it concerning. It is precisely the unwarranted nature of his lewd description that makes it aggressive. It is precisely the fact that it was spoken in a House Committee hearing — in a space of governance, in front of lawmakers, in front of witnesses, in the very public eye, that transforms this “imagination” into assault. This is the patriarchy made manifest. Unchecked, emboldened, normalized by centuries of male dominance in politics, law, and society. He is not just a man with a wandering eye. He is the embodiment of a system where power is male, where respect is optional, and where women’s discomfort is belittled and normalized.
And let us not sugarcoat it — Congressman Suntay’s audacity is indeed malicious, insulting, and sexist. There would be no justification for a mere man in duty of public service who will unnecessarily talk about his experience and in-heat fantasies.
Mayor Joy Belmonte, from the same city, stated in her public statement that he was among those who helped pass laws in Quezon City meant to protect women from harassment. Yet he is the first to violate them, to flaunt them, to reduce those laws to meaningless words while demonstrating, in real time, the exact behavior the laws were written to prevent. This is hypocrisy at its most disgusting. This is the brazenness of entitlement. And it is, quite simply, enraging.
We are tired.
Words aren’t enough of how tired — drained to the extent we are, of being policed for what we wear, being shrunk into objects of desire, and of enduring harassment framed as “jokes” or “fantasy.” Every time a male public official steps onto a podium and weaponizes his gaze, he reinforces centuries of oppression, centuries of being reduced, scrutinized, silenced. This is not Anne Curtis, nor is it simply about the timing of Women’s Month. This is every woman, every day, everywhere, under a system that allows men to speak without remorse, without shame, without accountability.
And to every man who thinks this is acceptable: your entitlement is vile. Your so-called harmlessness is an act of aggression. Women are not here for your amusement. We are not objects to fantasize about in private conversations or public hearings. We are not bodies to justify your power, your male gaze, your sense of superiority. Congressman Suntay’s comments should make you uncomfortable. They should shatter the illusion that patriarchy is benign. They should ignite anger, awareness, and accountability.
And to Congressman Suntay himself whom I wrote this very article about: hear this clearly. Women are watching. Women are listening, and we are never silent. Your words, your entitlement, your audacity, we refuse to tolerate it. Let the words reach into your mind and make you squirm in uneasiness, so that fantasy won’t be the only thing left in your corrupted mind.
