Baldwin told: Pinays not easy commodities for sale
Alec Baldwin's joke about getting a Filipina mail-order bride has sparked another negative response from the Filipino community, this time from the Consulate General of the Philippines in New York.
In a letter to Baldwin, Consul General Cecilia Rebong scored the Hollywood actor for generalizing Filipino women as "easy commodities for sale."
"The above statement was derogatory, prejudiced, insensitive, and stereotyped Filipino women negatively," she said, referring to Baldwin's statement on "The Late Show with David Letterman" last May 12.
In the said program, Baldwin told Letterman: "I think about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point...or a Russian one. I don't care, I'm 51."
The interview was widely circulated in video-sharing website YouTube, causing an outrage among the Filipino community. At least three senators have demanded a public apology from Baldwin for the said remark, which they said tarnished the reputation of Filipino women worldwide.
Anti-Mail-Order Bride law
Citing Republic Act 6599 (Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law) and Republic Act 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act), Rebong said the Philippines continues to work hard to eliminate the trafficking of women and children, contrary to Baldwin's perceived impression of women in the country.
"These laws were enacted in our country to protect Filipino women from being sold into marriage to a foreigner and being taken overseas where the ability of our government to protect her interests is severely diminished," she said.
Rebong also scored Baldwin for labeling women married to US nationals as mail-order brides simply because they are from the Philippines or in any other country. As a public figure, she said the actor should be more sensitive to such "discriminatory statements."
"[This label] is offensive and prejudiced since all foreign nationals married to US citizens residing here in the United States, regardless of how the parties met, have proven the truth of their union," she said.
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
Share your views
Context Context Context
Someone should start a fund raiser where the main goal will be to help finance the search for the Filipinos sense of humor. David Letterman hosts a talk show where COMEDY is the operative word every day. Now though some jokes may be funnier than others I dont think this one is worthy of a diplomatic or legislative storm. If this were a news report where a man of more substance were involved, certainly it would do us well to determine where his perceptions were coming from. BUT THIS IS ALEC BALDWIN FOR GODS SAKE! AND ON A LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW TO BOOT! But for the more rabid and easilly pricked, it should be noted that mail ( or in modern tachnospeak, E-Mail) order brides are still common place.
HERES A TRUE STORY: A Filipina was recently being interviewed by a foreign consular officer as a prerequisite to immigrating to another country for the purpose of marriage. The consular officer was politely insistent on getting the contact number of the husband to be for verification purposes. This prompted the female pinay applicant to indignantly declare that not all foreigners are users and this was a case of genuine love from a distance. This was of course until the consular officer gently pointed out that her indicated home address in the foreign country was a P.O BOX!
To our lawmakers...dont shoot the messenger. Give our people better education so that they can see through scams like this. Or better yet, give them a better education to make sure that the Filipina doesnt have to resort to rolling the dice on the internet just to find a beter life.Save your tirades for when youre in front of a mirror.
Ball is in your court. Prove Baldwin wrong.
Lahat ng biro ay may pinangagalingang katotohanan.
Bato bato sa langit tamaan huwag magalit.
basis for joke
We can't just be defensive about this issue. There are two sides of a coin all the time. It cannot be denied that there are Pinays who do immoral acts. Just like in any part of the world where we have Pinays who applied as Nannys or other jobs. Some of them were married in the Philippines and yet opted to have affairs with married men and agree to have a son/daughter just because they want to legalize their stay in other countries. As Pinays we also have to lead by example. He may had basis for it. Some Pinays take advantage of married couples who can't have children and since they had the opportunity they are willing to do it. Even if they are aware that the man was married. After that, if they can't break the marriage, they go to court and ask for child support. If we don't want to be placed in that situation of being rediculed. Please, let us look at our own backyard too. If we want to uplift our image, then we should not engage in things that we can be identified with.
Joke from Alec Baldwin
I don't think its funny at all. I think Mr. Baldwin is out of line. We never said anything about his family history. We all know what he did. He should make a statement and apologize to all the Filipinos.
What Bong Revilla was trying to say is ipag-tanggol nyo naman ang ating bansang Pilipinas. Don't let anyone talks down or bad about our country, beside i'm sure pinoy naman din kayo. Kahit papano ipag-malaki nyo pa rin kung saan tayo lahat nanggaling. I've been here in America for 33 years and I am still proud to say that I am from the Philippines. Whatever pa ang lumalabas na istorya, protect pa rin sana natin ang ating bansa. Why can't we all just get along. Wala kasi kayong bilib sa sarili nyo no? Life is too short and we can't blame for mistakes but ourselves. May god bless everyone and please life is too short to even waste it.