MANILA, Philippines – The government was urged to file a complaint and demand an apology from the British government-owned British Broadcasting Corp. for racist remarks and negative portrayal of Filipinas abroad, specifically Filipina domestic helpers.
Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to file a complaint before the British government and demand an apology from BBC, whose Sept. 26 skit in the popular “Harry and Paul” comedy show was offensive.
This is the second case after US television network ABC apologized for its “Desperate Housewives” show, where actress Terry Hatcher questioned the competence of Filipino doctors since Philippine medical schools were allegedly dubious.
In the British skit, the female lawmaker narrated that comedian Harry Enfield told a postman that he was “shouting at his Filipino maid” to get her “to do her job and get his friend Paul Whitehouse to mate with her.”
The young Filipina househelp was portrayed wearing a grey uniform and an apron, “gyrating and dancing lasciviously.”
“He kept ordering the girl to gyrate and dance in front of Paul and even instructed her to hump him,” related Hontiveros.
She added: “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.”
“It was revolting. It was a disgusting and an insensitive and racist attempt to satirize a scene of exploitation. By making it a joke, it encourages a consciousness that promotes human trafficking,” the party-list congresswoman complained.
Hontiveros condemned what she called “racist, humiliating and disgusting depiction of a Filipina domestic worker” in Britain, which has numerous laws on equality and respect for diversity, and has always been against human trafficking.
“We hope that the UK government would look into this issue and correct this sickening joke. The show does not exactly promote the stance against trafficking and abuse of women that the UK government has taken in the past,” she emphasized.
She added: “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 about human trafficking, an issue that merits global indignation.”
She said that it was a “humiliating portrayal” of Filipina workers abroad, most of whom have sacrificed their happiness to find decent jobs abroad. The BBC show “promotes negative stereotypes that cultivate impunity among those who abuse Filipina workers abroad.”
“By making overseas Filipinas appear as submissive sex objects, it reinforces the notion that foreigners could easily hire small and sexy Filipina domestic helpers and goad them into becoming sexual objects,” Hontiveros stressed.
“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,” she said.
“We are not asking BBC to be politically correct. What we want them to recognize is that the exploitation of women should not be used as an object of ridicule. 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.”