Filipino Americans Demand Apology From
'Desperate Housewives' Producers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2007
Contact: Jon Melegrito, 202-361-0296

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) is demanding an apology from the producers of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" over an episode that aired on September 30 disparaging medical practitioners who were trained in the Philippines.

In condemning the racially-biased and culturally insensitive remarks, NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern also points out the need for cultural awareness training among Hollywood writers, producers and actors. "It is outrageous that in this day and age, popular media continue to demean and insult Filipinos in America," Kern says. "For more than one hundred years, we have made valuable contributions to this country, not only as health professionals but as child care providers and home care givers. These dedicated, diligent and competent workers do not deserve to be slandered and stereotyped in such a prejudicial manner if only to evoke laughter."

In the ABC-produced episode, Terri Hatcher's character (Susan) was reacting to her gynecologist who suggested that she might be hitting menopause. "Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines," Susan replied.

Kern notes that when President Reagan was shot by an assassin in 1981, Filipino surgeon Jorge Garcia was among the doctors who attended to the wounded president. Ret. Admiral Connie Mariano, a proud Filipino American, was former President Bill Clinton's personal physician. "In both cases, the White House was obviously confident in entrusting the care and well being of the most powerful person in the world to Filipino doctors."

This is not the first time that popular media have cast negative aspersions on Filipinos. A few years ago, comedienne Joan Rivers made fun of Filipinos by calling them dog-eaters. An episode in a popular sitcom, "Frazier," several years back caricatured Filipino women as mail order brides. In each of these instances, the networks apologized in response to the outpouring of condemnation across the country.

"Clearly, these purveyors of popular culture weren't serious about their apologies and think they can get away with these insults," Kern states. She has called on all Filipinos and Filipino Americans to be vigilant by soundly rejecting these racial slurs and stereotypes and take appropriate action promptly: "I encourage you to sign on to petition campaigns, write and call ABC's corporate offices, their local affiliates and advertisers, and let them know that we will not tolerate this despicable practice of stereotyping and racial profiling at its worst."

The ABC Corporate Mailing Address:

ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551

(818) 460-7477*

Address of the producers of Desperate Housewives:

Desperate Housewives
Touchstone Television
100 Universal City Plaza
Bldg. 2128, Suite G
Universal City, CA 91608

East and west coast ABC corporate offices:

ABC, Inc.
77 West 66th St., 13th Floor
New York, NY 10023

ABC, Inc.
500 Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-4391

Directory of local ABC affiliates: http://abc.go.com/site/ca.html

National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
email: press@naffaa.org
phone: 202.986.1153
web: http://www.naffaa.org

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Press Release

Washington D.C.
New York, New York

October 4, 2007

Reference: 

Arnedo S. Valera, Esquire
Executive Director - MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION ( MHC)
Migrantheritage@aol.com
www.migrantheritage.org

Rico Foz
Executive Vice-President - NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR FILIPINO CONCERNS (NAFCON) nafconusa@yahoo.com

FIL-AM COMMUNITY GROUPS MEET WITH ABC's EXEC MENDEZ IN NY TO DEMAND MORE  CONCRETE MEASURES OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISCUSS NATURE OF APOLOGY
-PICKETS IN NEW YORK AND METRO WASHINGTON D.C.

ABC Television Network facing an impending picket and protest in front of Manhattan's ABC Studios on 77 West 66th Street, NY, NY, October 5 at 6 pm, and October 6 (noontime)  at ABC Office, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 (Metro Washington D.C .),  agreed to meet with the Filipino-American Delegation led by NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR FILIPINO CONCERNS (NAFCON),  PHILIPPINE FORUM AND the MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION (MHC ).  As mounting protests and international condemnation for the racial slur made by Actress Teri Hatcher in a scene with a doctor in Sunday's episode of "Desperate Housewives"  where she remarked: "Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas?Because I would like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

Robert Mendez, Esquire, Senior-Vice President  for Diversity and Talent Development of ABC NETWORK  had a very cordial and pleasant telephone conversation with Arnedo S. Valera, Esquire, Executive Director of the Migrant Heritage Commission ( MHC) this evening and both agreed to meet in Trump Plaza Hotel in New York  at 5 P.M. tomorrow, October 5th,  four blocks away from the organized community picket led by NAFCON  and PHILIPPINE FORUM.   As a  good faith gesture to the Filipino Community, ABC's Mr. Mendez assured Mr. Valera  that the controversial episode will be edited and the scene permanently cut and never again be shown even in re runs, DVD set or any format for sale or rent.  Likewise in exchange of goodwill with Mr. Valera,  Mr. Mendez agreed to  listen to the demands for more concrete measures of accountability to be presented by the Filipino-American Community panel group led by NAFCON, PHILIPPINE FORUM AND THE MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION ( MHC).   He further promised to seriously address all the demands and concerns of the picketing groups.

The picket in front of Manhattan's ABC Studios at 77 West 66th is supported  by the following organizations : The New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines,  NAFFAA, Anak Bayan, Movement for Free Philippines, FILIPINOS FOR RIGHTS AND EMPOWERMENT ( FIRE), KABALIKAT and the SENTOSA NURSES.   

The picket in Metropolitan Washington D.C. on Saturday, 6 October is to be led by the Philippine Medical Association  of Metro Washington D.C. (PMAMW) and MD to be supported by various Fil-Am organizations,  among them are the  Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) DC and MD and the MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION ( MHC).

Rico Foz of NAFCON,  Bernadette Llorin of PHILIPPINE FORUM, a representative of the medical community  and Arnedo S. Valera, Esquire of the MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION will lead the panel  that will present the demands of  the organized picketing groups to ABC Senior Vice President, Mr. Robert Mendez.

Among the demands to be presented are: ABC  Network Broadcast Public Apology and not simply a one paragraph statement; Conduct a complete and thorough investigation of those responsible for writing the reprehensible and racial slur script line; ABC to conduct racial and cultural sensitivity programs for all employees ; ABC should make a categorical and unequivocal statement  that it recognizes the significant contribution  of Philippine Health Care professionals especially our doctors, nurses and other health care givers to the entire U.S Health Care System  because of their competence  and high quality of skills; A sincere and proper apology to the Filipino People and the nation and the Fil-Am community groups for disparaging and maligning the Philippine Educational System  and the expressed racial prejudice to Filipino doctors and physicians; ABC will commit  to make episodes and shows that will depict Filipinos and other minority groups as prominent positive role models of the community  and that ABC agrees to support Filipino-American Community projects that will strengthen racial diversity and harmony in local communities and at the national level.
NAFCON promised to organize more  peaceful ,continuous and sustained  pickets and protests together with various  Filipino-American groups and minority groups in the country until the demands are substantially met.

The Migrant Heritage Commission ( MHC) commends the collective efforts of several immigrant groups, organizations like Philippine Medical Assn, Philippine Nurses Assn, APPA and NAFFAA and individuals in the U.S , in the Philippines and our kababayans in other parts of the world who supported and signed  a one line-indignation petition which garnered more than 65,000 signatures within 48 hours when it was posted by Mr. KEVIN NADAL , a Fil-Am college lecturer who lives in New York.   MHC and the Filipino community also appreciate the support of the Philippine government and the media on this cause.

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'Desperate Housewives' Controversy Spur Joint Action; NaFFAA Coordinates FilAm Groups'Response

NaFFAA Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2007
Contact: Jon Melegrito, 202.361.0296

Washington, D.C. - After rejecting ABC's apology as inadequate, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) welcomes ABC's willingness to take additional steps in addressing the community's concerns.

            Following the apology, which was issued on October 3 to the press by ABC's publicity department, ABC assured NaFFAA that immediate steps were being taken to delete the offensive scene from DVD sets, future airings and rebroadcasts of the September 30 episode of 'Desperate Housewives.'

            "This is a necessary first step to back up ABC's apology," says NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern. "In light of our community's outrage over the racial slur, we are determined to pursue reasonable measures to stop this kind of racial profiling in popular media." 

            In a telephone call to NaFFAA Communications Director Jon Melegrito on October 3, ABC Senior Vice President Robert Mendez said that ABC will "wipe out the offensive material from all Disney-ABC platforms as a good-faith effort to engage the Filipino American community in addressing your concerns." Mendez, who is the director of diversity strategies covering the Disney-ABC Television Group, also assured NaFFAA that he will look into the community's other demands, which include an on-air apology by the program's cast and crew and an explanation of how the offensive scene maligning Philippine-trained medical professionals got past the review process. "We also want to know what concrete steps ABC is taking to ensure that similar incidents don't happen again," Melegrito told Mendez.

            In the same phone call, Mendez also noted a major concern - as expressed strongly in on-line petitions, statements from various organizations and e-mail exchanges - that ABC's programming does not accurately reflect the large number of Filipino doctors and nurses in the nation's hospitals. "Many of them are chief surgeons and head nurses," Melegrito told Mendez. "They should be portrayed for the kind of professionals that they are." Mendez replied that "this may be difficult to do because we can't dictate to the creative people what to write."

            To formally discuss these concerns and other issues, Mendez met with Filipino American community leaders in his New York office on October 5. Led by NaFFAA Exec. Director Armando Heredia, the delegation included representatives from the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA), Migrant Heritage Commission, the National Alliance of Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and the Philippine Forum. A follow-up meeting with NaFFAA is slated this week in Washington, D.C. Leaders from the Philippine Medical Association, who staged a protest rally in front of ABC's affiliate station in Rosslyn, VA. will also attend.

            At the New York meeting, Mendez reiterated ABC's commitment to delete the offensive scene from all Disney-ABC media. "This undertaking is very expensive, but we will wipe it clean because it is offensive to Filipinos and it undermines our commitment to diversity," Mendez said. "It pains us to the core that something like this escaped scrutiny because we have built-in controls. This slip was an anomaly, given the volume of programming that we do."

            Prior to the New York meeting, NaFFAA facilitated a nationwide conference call with Filipino American community leaders from Los Angeles, Nevada and Washington, D.C.  Among the participants were leaders from the Filipino American Services Group (FASGI), Philippine American Bar Association, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and Kababayan LA.

            In addition to issues already raised with ABC, the participating groups also listed as an added demand a meeting with top ABC executives to secure appropriate apologies from the actual persons responsible and to get ABC's commitment that such racial slurs are not repeated in the future. To give ABC a chance to respond, the group agreed to hold off on any massive protest actions. "We were all unanimous in believing that this incident presents an opportunity for the Filipino American community to become more visible and exercise power which we almost never do," said Melvin N.A. Avanzado of PABA.

            NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern commends all the Filipinos and Filipino Americans for choosing to engage ABC, as demonstrated by the over 100,000 who signed the on-line petition and the hundreds of statements, phone calls and letters. "We have an opportunity to educate the major networks and the American public about who we are and the vital role we play in this country," she says. "I believe we can achieve significant short term and long term goals by pursuing a dialogue with ABC in a constructive manner."

NaFFAA-ABC Meeting in New York City 5 October 2007: (l-r) Disney-ABC Television Group Senior Vice President Robert Mendez, NaFFAA Executive Director Armando 'Doy' Heredia, Cristy Talangbayan, APPA Incoming President and past NaFFAA Pennsylvania State Chair Francis Talangbayan, APPA and NaFFAA General Counsel Reuben Seguritan. (NaFFAA file photo)

National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
email: press@naffaa.org
phone: 202.986.1153
web: http://www.naffaa.org