BBC producers defiant over racist slur Agence France-Presse First Posted 07:30:00 10/08/2008
LONDON -- The production company behind a BBC comedy sketch that provoked outrage in the Philippines for being racist said Tuesday that the show was "absurd" and should not be taken seriously.
The Philippine justice minister and the ambassador to Britain have demanded a public apology from the British broadcaster for the sketch, which shows a character urging another to "mate" with a Filipino maid.
In a letter to the BBC, Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu said the episode of "Harry and Paul", the brainchild of British comics Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, was "very malicious and is a blatant display of racial prejudice".
The BBC, which has received 54 complaints over the show, said it had yet to receive a formal complaint from any official Philippine body, but that if one arrives, "we will deal with it according to the correct procedures".
But a spokesman for Tiger Aspect Productions, which makes the show, said it was an adult program that "tackles many situations in a comedic way".
"Set in this context, the sketch in question is so far beyond the realms of reality as to be absurd -- and in no way is intended to demean or upset any viewer," he said.
During the sketch, Enfield's character urges his neighbor to have sex with another neighbor's Filipina maid, saying he is trying to see if "we could mate their Filipina maid with our Northerner, but he's not having any of it".
He then says, "Come on Clyde, mount her" and addressing the maid, says: "You, you, present your rear."
Espiritu wrote that the sketch was "not only egregiously insulting to the Filipino community in the UK. It is also very malicious and is a blatant display of racial prejudice".
"Not only did the show give a bad impression of Filipino women. It also portrayed British employers as perpetrators of exploitation of young women, vulgarity and immoral activities, using their employees, in this case, the domestic worker, as a sex toy," he wrote.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said he would add his name to a petition calling for an apology from the British broadcaster, saying: "I don't like our fellow Filipinos to be insulted."
Millions of Filipinos go abroad to work and the money they send back home is an essential part of the country's economy.
American television network ABC apologized last year for an episode of "Desperate Housewives" which questioned the competence of Filipino doctors.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer. October 9, 2008.
MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos in London are set to launch "concerted efforts" against British government-owned British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) for its reportedly "racist and humiliating" portrayal of a Filipina domestic worker, a lawmaker said on Monday.
Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, head of the subcommittee on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said during the plenary debates on the proposed 2009 budget that Philippine Embassy representatives in the United Kingdom were already coordinating with the Filipino community there regarding their protest actions.
"The Philippine embassy, our representatives there, already have met with the Filipino community for concerted efforts versus the BBC such as a silent protest and a vigil right at the BBC," said Mandanas.
Mandanas added that an email campaign "condemning" the BBC and a demand for apology were also being circulated among Filipinos in London.
The Philippine Embassy has sent letters of complaint to various United Kingdom government offices — including the UK regulatory industry, the Mayor of London, and the BBC itself — while Philippine Ambassador to the UK Edgardo Espiritu is studying whether any legal action can be made, according to Mandanas.
"Ambassador Espiritu is really very active in filing the complaint and studying whatever actions can be done," said the Batangas lawmaker.
Mandanas made the statements in response to the inquiry of Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros who earlier urged the DFA to demand apology from the British government for the BBC skit portraying a Filipina domestic worker in a "humiliating" manner.
Hontiveros said the supposed young Filipina, who was wearing a gray uniform and an apron, was shown "gyrating and dancing lasciviously."
"He (Enfield) kept ordering the girl to gyrate and dance in front of Paul and even instructed her to hump him," Hontiveros said in a statement.
The lawmaker added that "when an indifferent Paul stood up to go inside the house, Harry scolded the Filipina girl, telling her to get out and just go. The scene closed with the postman sidling up to the Filipina, whispering to her as they walked off together."
Hontiveros said the humiliating portrayal of Filipina workers "promotes negative stereotypes that cultivate impunity among those who abuse Filipina workers abroad."
"By making a horrible scene of exploitation an object of ridicule, the show trivializes an act of abuse commonly experienced by Filipina workers abroad. It desensitizes its audience on human trafficking, an issue that merit global indignation," she said.
She added that making overseas Filipinas appear as submissive sex objects reinforces the notion that foreigners could easily hire small and sexy Filipina domestic helpers and turn them into sexual objects.
"By making it a joke, it encourages a consciousness that promotes human trafficking," Hontiveros said. - JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV
