THE Palace on Tuesday cried foul over the “highly negative” depiction of the Philippine president in an upcoming episode of the US drama series Madam Secretary.
“I think they are confused in their images. I think they are projecting something that they really would like to say about their own situation. I think it is a depiction of the US President,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters, making an apparent reference to womanizing American leaders.
“I think they are projecting something they would really like to say about their own situation. I think they should use a fictional US president,” Abella said.
“It’s their business. It’s their craft. You cannot deny them their craft, their taste perhaps.”
Last week, the Philippine Embassy in Washington D. C. complained to CBS Corp. to complain that the upcoming episode of Madam Secretary, which airs March 12, showed the Philippine president as “exhibiting inappropriate behavior toward the female lead character, US Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord.”
“While Madam Secretary is a work of fiction, it tracks and mirrors current events,” the embassy said. “It is, therefore, inevitable that its depiction of world leaders will have an impact on how its audience views the real personages and the countries they represent. This highly negative portrayal of our head of state not only casts doubt on the respectability of the Office of the Philippine President but also denigrates that way our nation navigates foreign affairs. It also tarnishes the Philippines’ longstanding advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality.”
“In view of the injurious effects that this program will have on the interests of the Philippines and the Filipino people, the Philippine Embassy urgently calls on CBS to take the necessary corrective actions,” the embassy added.
The basis for the embassy complaint was a trailer of the upcoming episode entitled “Break in Diplomacy,” which airs March 12 in the United States.
In the teaser, the Philippine president, played by actor Joel de la Fuente, is alone in a room with the main character, played by Téa Leoni, who first laughs off the leader’s advances. When he goes too far, however, she punches him in the face, bloodying his nose.
While the description for the trailer used a fictional name for the Philippine president, the embassy said the show mirrored current events.
President Rodrigo Duterte has previously caused controversy with comments perceived to have been sexist and offensive.
During last year’s presidential campaign the Australian and American ambassadors in Manila criticized Duterte for saying he wanted to rape a “beautiful” Australian missionary who had been murdered in a prison riot.
Duterte, 71, reacted angrily to the criticism, saying the remarks had been misinterpreted.
Duterte also boasted on the campaign trail about having two mistresses but said the women would not cost taxpayers much because he kept them at cheap boarding houses and took them to by-the-hour hotels for sex.
The President has also been criticized for wolf-whistling at a woman journalist at a press conference and joking about looking at his female vice president’s legs.
But Duterte has also won praise for a range of policies promoting women’s rights, including reproductive health.
Philippine leaders have a history of protesting negative portrayals in Hollywood of Filipinos.
In 2009 the government demanded an apology from actor Alec Baldwin for joking about wanting to get a Filipina mail-order bride.
The producers of the top-rated “Desperate Housewives” show also apologized in 2007 after a lead character put down Filipino doctors.
On social media, some Filipinos pointed out that thousands of people had been killed under Duterte’s controversial drugs war and questioned why the Philippine authorities should be outraged at a fictional television show.
“So it’s not OK for a TV show to punch the fictional President of the Philippines but it’s OK for 7,000+ people to be shot without trial? The hypocrisy is particularly juicy,” one Facebook user posted. With AFP