110891, Malacanang replies! (swipe)
Posted by spivak, Wed Oct-03-07 01:22 PM
It's reassuring to know we've gone from fighting Pres. McKinley to fighting Teri Hatcher. We might as well have K-Fed raise our sons and daughters.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=94508
Malacaņang to 'Desperate Housewives': Apologize for slur
The furor over a slur uttered against Philippine medical schools on the premier episode of the fourth season of the American TV show "Desperate Housewives" has prompted a response from Malacaņang Palace.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the TV show belittled the abilities of Filipino doctors and sent a message that Philippine medical schools produced "substandard, inferior" medical practitioners.
The offending remark was made by one of the show's desperate housewives, Susan Mayer (played by American actress Teri Hatcher). In one scene Mayer asks for the credentials of the gynecologist who examined her and told her that she was approaching menopause.
Mayer said, "Can I check those diplomas 'coz I just want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines." The premiere episode, which has been posted on YouTube.com, drew criticisms from the Filipino community on the Internet.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon meanwhile has proposed a ban on the popular TV series. Biazon, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, said he doesn't watch the show himself but pointed out that a ban on the show or a boycott by Filipino viewers are possible responses.
Earlier, Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the slur will tarnish the good image of Filipino doctors in the international community. He added that the slur was both irresponsible and without basis.
The Philippine Consulate in New York has said it will send a letter of protest to ABC Network and ask for an apology for the slur. The move came after the consulate office received complaints from the Filipino community, particularly health workers, in the US about the show.
Angry doctors
"It's not good for us. They shouldn't have said those words, because we all know that there are good doctors who graduated in the Philippines. That's uncalled for," PMA president Dr. Jose Sabili told ABS-CBN's morning show "Umagang Kay Ganda" on Monday.
Earlier, the president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) said he will urge his counterpart in the US to demand an apology from the people behind the TV series.
Sabili, who was attending the World Medical Associations General Assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, said he will seek an audience with the president of the American Medical Association to compel the TV producers to issue an apology for the insulting remark.
The doctor said the slur might even create a rift in the relationship of the two medical associations.
"I will meet with the president of the American Medical Association to air our feelings and ask them to tell that they should not insult doctors in the country," Sabili said.
Sabili said the PMA will study the possible cause of negative perceptions of medical schools in the Philippines. He said "diploma mills" and negative writeups of medical schools in local newspapers could have contributed to the negative perception.
"I have to verify this. We will definitely act on this because this will destroy the reputation of Filipino doctors," he said.
Online petition
Filipino Americans have expressed their outrage over the remark and have launched an online petition demanding an apology from ABC Network.
The petition also demands that the episode be edited to remove the "ignorant and racist" remark. As of 4:16 pm (Manila time) some 15,533 people have signed the petition.
The petition also points out the major contribution that Filipinos and Filipino Americans make in healthcare in the United States:
" statement that devalues Filipinos in healthcare is extremely unfounded, considering the overwhelming presence of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the medical field. Filipinos are the second largest immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. (and successfully passing their U.S. licensing boards!) as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians.
"In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any other country in the world. So, to belittle the education, experience, or value of Filipino Americans in health care is extremely disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant. Many of the hospitals in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. (and the world) would not be able to operate without its Filipino and Filipino American staff members."
Jay Ngo, a Filipino health professional from Riverside, California in the United States ABS-CBN News that the episode was an outrage, saying, "the healthcare industry, including the best hospitals, is full of Filipino medical professionals."
Forum reactions
The message board of the "Desperate Housewives" website is being peppered with threads regarding the issue.
One poster, using the alias "hunnybee07" wrote:
"America has been very fortunate to have been served by many nurses and physicians. It is quite ungrateful of Americans to make such remarks. Even if it were meant to be a joke, it apparently hurt an entire nation. The Filipinos deserve an apology. One day, when you are old, it could just be a Flipino nurse by your bedside and then you would know why you should have taken back any insults against Filipinos, especially Filipino medical practicioners."
Another poster, "MommyDO12", who claims to be a doctor in the US said:
"As a Filipino-American who is both a doctor and trained here, I get that your comment is quite ignorant. True, many Americans go overseas for medical school because they could not get in to schools here. However, there are a GREAT number of Americans and Europeans who go to so called "third world" countries because the education there is cutting edge AND affordable. I'm up to my eyeballs in student loans.
"Why do you think Americans are now rushing to the Philippines and India for surgeries unavailabe here in America? There are hip surgery techniques that have been developed there that result in less recovery time and have less mortality.
"Please, get educated before jumping onto the obvious bandwagon of "get over it" because you can't possibly understand being berated. Even my husband, who is caucasian, took great offense to the comment and is the one urging me to stop watching the show in protest."
One poster, who used the alias "berikyut", was long on passion but fell short on English skills.
"What the hell...Talking but about the philippines in your premier... "Let me see your degree making sure is now from somewhere in the philippines"? For you information if you go to hospitals most nurses/doctors there is from philippines & is hard worker & very good...So I suggest you think about your comment before you say it or if it's a joke It should be funny ( that is why it's a joke) DUH!!! I usually like you in the show specially watching you in superman before...NOW forget it....that's why you never win an emmy!!"
This prompted a reply from "Dr.Java02" asking, "Do the nurses/doctors learn grammar and spelling over there?"
With that development, do Filipinos now need to prove that they can master English grammar as well as Western medicine?
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