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MANILA,
Oct. 24 (PNA) — The British community in the Philippines and their
Filipino friends who are now in the middle of celebrations of “RP-UK
Week,” have more reasons to be festive.
Not
only has the venerable broadcasting icon, the BBC, apologized for a
recent anti-Filipino program, but British ambassador to Manila, Peter
Beckingham, also reiterates that the "relationship has never been
stronger, and the prospects are excellent.”
Four
weeks after it aired on two channels on September 26 and 29, the
British Broadcasting Corporation apologized for the cultural faux pas
on the offending comedy, “Harry and Paul.”
“Please
accept my sincere apologies, on behalf of the BBC, for the offence that
this programme caused you," BBC director-general Mark Thompson wrote
Ambassador to London, Edgardo Espiritu, in a letter dated October 10.
The London embassy claims it received BBC’s letter only on October 20.
Producer
Andew Zane, chief executive of Tiger Aspect Productions, a BBC
associate, also personally apologized to Filipinos who joined a vigil
in London in protest of the program.
"We're
sorry to anyone who was in any way offended by the programme. This
certainly was not our intention," Zane told the Filipinos.
The
episode was described by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs
(DFA) as “an insulting reference to Filipino women, typifying them in a
dual role as domestic workers and sex toys of their British employers.”
Filipinos
who had monitored it immediately lodged a complaint through Espiritu,
who then wrote BBC Trust Chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, on October 3.
In
Manila, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo summoned British
ambassador Peter Beckingham to the DFA, the envoy expressing “regrets”
over the incident.
Beckingham
explained to reporters that BBC is not government-owned nor controlled,
and cannot be forced by the British foreign office to apologize but
that they will convey the Philippine demand for apology.
The
pressure of the Philippine campaign in Manila and in London — vigil and
silent protest, online signature gathering, and letter-writing --
apparently bore down on its target, and the apologies came in.
More
than 2,000 signatures protesting the offensive depiction of Filipinos
were gathered on the internet set up by leaders of the 200,000-strong
Filipino community in the United Kingdom.
A
silent vigil was also held simultaneously on October 17 in front of the
BBC Office in White City, just outside central London, and Tiger Aspect
Productions in Soho in central London, the DFA reported.
Espiritu
also wrote letters to the All Party Parliamentary Group–Philippines and
the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the UK Equality and Human
Rights Commission, the Office of Communications (OFCOM|), the UK Press
Complaints Commission London Mayor Boris Johnson, and Harriet Harman,
MP, UK Secretary of State for Women and Equality.
”All’s
well that ends well,” said former finance secretary Roberto Ocampo, an
alumnus of the London School of Economics and now the chairman of the
British Alumni Association, which spearheads the ongoing
Philippine-British celebrations.
But
a member of the Association, who did not wish to stoke the heat of
resentment, also noted that ”perhaps, despite our claims, our English
(language) ability is not that good. There are those who think it was a
literary problem.”
”It
(the TV incident) was an eye-opener…we should improve our knowledge,
practice and embrace of English…and think globally,” the alumnus said.
(PNA) |
