Desperate Housewives Faux Pas

The following is the protest letter of Ambassador Willy C. Gaa on the racial slur against Filipino and Philippine Medical School graduates made on the ABC show Desperate Housewives. Let the Filipino community be one in protest against this insult to our people.


PASUGUAN NG PILIPINAS (EMBASSY OF THE PHILIPPINES)
Washington, D.C.

03 October 2007

Ms. ANNE SWEENEY
C-Chair, Disney Media Networks
President, Disney-ABC Television Group
The Walt Disney Company, Corporate
500 S Buena Vista St.,
Burbank, CA 91521-6369 (Fax: 816-560-1000)

Dear Madame:

I wish to express our grave disappointment and displeasure over a scene in the episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives which aired last Sunday, 30 September 2007. In that scene, the character named Susan (played by Teri Hatcher) told her gynecologist, "Before we go any further, can I check those diplomas because I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

It is a surprise that such an unfounded and disrespectful remark would even be allowed to be aired on US television. Such insensitivity betrays a complete ignorance of the fact that through the years, Filipinos and Filipino Americans have made quite a mark in the medical field across the entire United States.

In fact, many US hospitals employ a large number of Philippine-trained doctors, nurses, and medical technologists, and some hospitals in major cities would in fact not be able to operate to full efficiency without the considerable presence of their Filipino and Filipino-American medical staff.

This kind of message, coming from such a popular TV show, would tend to damage the credibility and hard-earned reputation of these medical professionals, all of whom passed stringent US requirements to be allowed to practice their profession in this country. It could also damage the credibility of all other professionals of Filipino descent, which is most distressing given the fact that Filipinos now constitute the second largest group of legal migrants to the United States.

It would therefore be most appreciated if your company could issue a public apology to those Filipino-American groups who are even now raising their voices in protest over this development, with the affirmation that no harm was intended and that your distinguished network would henceforth refrain from featuring such unfounded statements in your regular programming.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Sincerely yours,
WILLY C. GAA
Ambassador