Filipinos Denigrated on ABC's Desperate Housewives

[Negus]

Uhh, American tv shows makes fun of everything, even Jesus and religion . ambabaw para pansinin pa yan....

Think about it, they need filipino doctors and nurses more than the philippines can provide and the demand is still rising. sila nga ang nangangailangan eh, galingan niyo na lang magtrabaho para ala na sila masabi hehe.

[mommyblue]

napanood ko yung clip sa mga morning shows kanina.. degrading nga yung dialogue ni teri hatcher.. imo, it's a shallow joke that somewhat reflects what is happening right now in our educational system.. maybe, some filipinos got offended because there is a certain truth in it ..

[ts1n1ta]

It was a little deragatory for our professionals, all right, Teri Hatcher should be spanked... but when I watched it (clip) for the second time, I just find the attempt for wit and humor quite pathetic. Far worse jokes are being made to other nationalities. I will let this go for now.

[Altis6453]

Not that I'm condoning what was said but, c'mon fellas. It's a drama soap on American TV. Even Jay Leno poked fun at the Philippines when GMA withdrew our troops from Iraq so that a Filipino worker taken hostage could be released. If there's anyone to blame, blame the writers of the show for bad taste.

[theveed]

Balat sibuyas nanaman... I guess all the other stereotypical jokes made in local TV against foreigners are OK then, right?

Oh yeah, Pinoys NEVER fake their credentials to go abroad... The bunch of deported "professionals" here in Sing for fake diplomas are just propagandas against OFWs...

[FerioEG9Boi]

jusko para yun lang pero natatawa tayo pag pinagtitripan ang ibang bansa. wala yan.

[Stoner]

Wasn't really bothered by their witless attempt at humor... but a thought hit me when I visited this thread again.

What if because of that line, thousands (or millions) of viewers who are clueless or normally indifferent actually start to develop a bias against our medical professionals....?

Something along the lines of....

"Desperate Housewives aired something about Filipino doctors, there must be something wrong with them."

Tsk, tsk...

[jundogg]

hindi kaya si malu fernandez ang nagsulat ng script na yun?!

[GasJunkie]

I'm insulted boycott starbucks, mcdees, kfc etc etc etc




:fly:


edit f*ck except coke :hysterical:

[Bogeyman]

Canada gets to be the butt of jokes much of the time, yet they just shrug it off.

Apart from the nursing scandal context, it's just one of those obligatory "let's-make-fun-of-some-country-just-for-the-heck-of-it" lines. You can easily take 'the Philippines' out of the dialogue and substitute 'Tijuana' instead. Or 'Bangkok'. Or 'Colombia'.

[cutedoc]

in a way its funny but, as a dentist i would be offended if someone made a remark in my face even if i am not the one that he is pointing at.

my best friend works as a nurse in chicago, and they look up on asian nurses especially filipinos, my friend (na dating kong tinatawanan sa pag e english) teaches at nursing school in chicago as well, americans trust pinoy nurses more than any other nationality.

so to all pinoy nurses, and medical allied professionals maintain the highest degree of workmanship in our services.

[Altis6453]

Boy, our politicians are quick to pounce on this issue.

From abs-cbnnews.com

Malacañang 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 Malacañang 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 [insulting] 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 [the producers of the TV show] 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 (http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/petition.html) 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:

"[A] 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 [Filipino] 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?

I don't watch this soap but a proposal to ban the TV show? Really?!? Sheesh! Might as well ban the freedom of expression clause of the Constitution. Better yet, I guess this is the best reason to ban the Senate or interminably incompetent senators.

[BlueBimmer]

napanood ko nga to kagabi...hehe

[tagaisla]

napanood ko din ito,pero di ko gasinong naintindihan.natuwa pa nga ako dahil nabanggit ang Philippines.

[theveed]

Babaw talaga, and what a great use of taxpayer's money geezus

[66bunny]

Here we go again with our balat-sibuyas syndrome.

It was a joke. J-O-K-E. And I find it witty too, a bit sarcastic but funny.

[shadow]

O.A. -----for God's sake!!! it was just a joke from a tv show....magalit na sa akin lahat ng OA dito, but it only shows that we filipinos are just insecure, sensitive and shallow .....

kung hinde ba naman mababaw, yun walang kwentang bagay pinapalaki..sus mas marmai pang dapat asikasuhin yun gov't natin....

[chua_riwap]

Kung wala namang scam na nangyari sa Nursing Board Exams, wala namang lalabas na joke na ganyan di ba?

Degrading, pero yun yung reality.

[Isuzoom]

hay naku ang OA ng mga politicrocs natin sakay naman sa balita......Bad Teri!....come to fafa...15 spanks for your mistake!

[claRkEnt]

sabi nga : TRUTH HURTS! The nursing exam leakage issue has finally caught up. The government did not make a firm stand on the issue before and even siding with the cheaters (syempre), and now when something like this comes up, they are raising their voices... (or is it just a ploy to make mountain out of molehill para matakpan current bigger issues???)

and para dun sa ibang OA, sabi nga sa radio kanina, baka naman i-declare pa nilang persona non grata si Terry!