DFA takes action vs anti-Pinay BBC skit
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/06/2008 10:42 PM
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | 
Share your views
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday condemned a BBC skit in a segment of a popular comedy show aired in the United Kingdom that portrayed Filipino women as sex objects.
Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas said the Philippine embassy in London has already written to the United Kingdom's media regulatory agency as well as to the mayor of London, the secretary of state for women and the television network to complain about the said show.
Mandanas spoke on behalf of the department during its budget hearing at the House of Representatives Monday night.
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau chief Danny Buenafe reported that the "Harry and Paul” show that aired over BBC on September 26 showed a Filipino domestic worker in a maid's uniform dancing provocatively in front of a man in an attempt to seduce him.
According to the two title characters, the Filipina was following the wishes of a neighbor who wanted “their northerner” to “mate” with the “Filipina maid.”
Filipino leaders denounced the comedy act as racist and said it promotes sexual exploitation and demeans the image of Filipino domestic helpers.
Philippine Ambassador to the UK Edgardo Espiritu criticized the skit as "gutter humor." He said the show counters the advocacy of the British government to observe equality for all and respect for human rights.
Espiritu said there is every need to question the show and why it had to drag Filipino women “to commit act of lasciviousness in front of the employer himself.”
“They should admit to insulting not only the Filipino community but even Britons themselves. That's how I looked at it and that's how I reacted to it when I saw the entire story about what happened,” Espiritu
Pinoys rally vs skit
Filipino organizations have started mapping out plans for a protest action against BBC.
Loline Adelina Reed is leading an e-mail brigade to create awareness among Filipinos worldwide regarding the impact of the program to Filipino domestic workers.
“Makikita mo na sila din ang reflection din sa kanila, sa British employer, masama din kasi parang sexual exploitation, they're exploiting a maid di ba? You don’t do that to your own employee,” Reed said.
Reed said the BBC should issue a public apology for the skit.
“Talagang lumalabas na sila ang parang vulgar, rude, arogante, komo ba maid mo pwede mong sabihing ganun, o i-seduce mo nga ang kaibigan ko dahil depress. Parang mali ang values na pino-portray ng BBC dyan kasi lahat ng kababaihan naapektuhan dyan. Ano ba tayo dahil maid lang tayo halimbawa pwede na tayong i-exploit ng employer? Yun ang focus, mali. Hindi maganda,” said Reed.
Other Filipinos in the UK said the BBC comedy scene was even worse than the script of an episode of the American TV series "Desperate Housewives", which questioned the ability of Filipino medical graduates.
Meanwhile, Akbayan Rep. Riza Hontiveros urged the DFA to file a complaint before the British government and demand for an apology from BBC.
"This has to be corrected. Otherwise, it would become easy for other media outfits to use Filipina workers abroad as an object of sexual ridicule. We are not asking for BBC to be politically correct. What we want them to recognize instead is that the exploitation of women should not be used as an object of ridicule," she said. "The media should be a partner against human trafficking, and not an unwitting promoter of abuse because of insensitive and racist portrayals of women in trafficking."
"We hope that the UK government would likewise look into this issue and correct this sickening joke. UK has laws on equality and respect for diversity, and it has repeatedly made statements against human trafficking," Rep. Hontiveros said. With Joey Villarama, ABS-CBN News
