Filipina In Controversial BBC Sitcom Talks

Written on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 6:57 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia

This should give closure.

lHer name is Jenny Cachero. She’s 20 years old and is majoring in film at a British university. She was on summer break so she took her chance and was cast as the Filipina maid in the 4th episode of the new BBC comedy Harry and Paul. The portion showing her being told to “mate a Northerner and offer her rear” while dancing seductively ran for all of 57 seconds, ending with her boss shooing her away.

The rest, as they say, is history with the BBC issuing a somewhat  lame apology after activist lawmakers protested loudly as Filipinos all over the blogosphere took up the cudgels for Filipina dignity over the perceived slur.

There is a tinge of regret as Jenny Cachero is quoted as telling ABS-CBN network “it was just a job.”: We still wish her success and here’s hoping her next roles will be better considered and substantial. Till the next.

Tags: , , , ,
Add to del.icio.us | Digg this! | Yahoo MyWeb | Google Bookmark It! | Stumble It!
About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

Filed Under Internet, Society

Related Entries:

Comments

15 Responses to “Filipina In Controversial BBC Sitcom Talks”

  1. benign0 on October 19th, 2008 10:44 am

    If I were the BBC I’d stop hiring Pinoys.

    Too much baggage and all around too much trouble.

    This case is an example of that. Ending up having to apologise to a bunch of onion-skinned bozos for what is clearly a comedy sketch isn’t worth it.

  2. Bencard on October 19th, 2008 11:30 am

    ofw’s should be warned before they venture abroad. it’s a cruel world out there. they have to grow up first before stepping out and must stop being crybabies. i cringe at the sight and sound of those demonstrators in london. i think the indignation is misplaced. i’ve seen countless of foreign maids caricatured on american t.v., e.g. british, polish, russian, chechs,korean, chinese, etc., and i’ve never seen any of them take
    offense.

    btw, on another note, the government cannot always save ofw’s who commit capital crimes in foreign lands. it’s tragic but that is the quintessential “occupational hazard”. in law we call it “assumption of risk”.

  3. Henrico Go on October 19th, 2008 12:20 pm

    Dont become an Alila; be a dressmaker, baker, beautician, singer, dancer, sex-worker - but for God’s sake - being Chimay’s a disgrace and the slurs are just by products.

  4. Ding Gagelonia on October 19th, 2008 3:27 pm

    Bencard and Benign0,

    Here we are on same page. Atty. Ben, that “risk assumption” or “occupational hazard£” acceptance is most to the point given the realities of the globalized world. If only Filipinos with only blue-collar skills had genuine livelihood options her at home then they don’t have to be part of the diaspora. As history recorsds, the wandering Chinese were once the world’s peons. Now Filipinos are.

    Am just not too comfortable Benign0 with the proposition for BBC to consider Filipinos lock, stock, and barrelb as liabilities. Discriminatory practice is what that’s called, right? Haay, pobreng Pinoy.

  5. leytenian on October 19th, 2008 9:15 pm

    henrico go,

    i can tell you haven’t been expose to the rest of the world. my cleaning lady who cleans my house once a month is a blonde. she is a single mother with three children. my lawnmower guy who cuts my yard is a white man. The handy man that fixes my toilets when broken and fixes other little stuff in the house is a black man. It depends where you are in the world. There are maids from puerto rico, there are baby sitters from england and there are maids/ help from sweden.

    In business, there’s a demand for a maid service. It’s something that a chimay entreprenuer can grow as a business. Look at it that way. It’s only a job.

    There’s no demand for a filipino dressmaker, singer ( unless one can sing like arnel and charice) and dancer overseas. Your suggestion will make a pinoy unemployed for a long time. My suggestion for my fellow pinoy is College EDUCATION. I know a maid and a help. They are working students, graduated at UP and now very successful. This should be the type of topic that we should be discussing. We need role models not bad publicity.

  6. Henrico Go on October 20th, 2008 12:03 am

    hi leytenian,
    Thanks for the additional information. You are correct to conclude that my observation is limited, however these cleaning ladies, grass cutter and plumber are your come-as-they-please-handyperson. You are not their only ‘boss’. I know what you mean as I saw the type in Mrs. Doubtfire.

    They are different from the domestic helpers who work 7 days a week and on call as long as the amos are not asleep.

    If the Pinay’s work that way (Mrs Doubtfire), then that is not being atsay in its full meaning. They are hired help.

    You may not agree, but I hope you see the difference.

    With regards to college education, some of our Chimays are teacher’s back home, some of other professions, but still there seem to be a magnet to being alila.

    True, there is no demand (yet) for Pinay artisans and artist - but that does not mean we have to work as a dedicated katulong.

    My point is - let us not glorify their effort. Or make it appear to be romantic. If they are slurred, then it is them and not the Filipino race.

  7. thenashman on October 20th, 2008 12:37 am

    Jail Ambassador Lauro Baja now! He is the REAL maid abuser!

  8. leytenian on October 20th, 2008 4:08 am

    henrico,

    good point you have there but in reality , teachers in philippines get paid 15,000 pesos a month of which a tsimay can make 50,000 a month. which is smarter in terms of personal finance? in regards to nashman’s maid abuser, fire BAJA and replace him with someone else. :)

  9. thenashman on October 20th, 2008 4:40 am

    baja is using diplomatic immunity to evade the new york courts.

  10. leytenian on October 20th, 2008 10:40 am

    henrico,

    “They are different from the domestic helpers who work 7 days a week and on call as long as the amos are not asleep.”

    oic. well, in this case, employee agrees to work overtime. We cannot control how “katulong” want to live their lives. It’s none of our biz.

  11. Henrico Go on October 20th, 2008 12:12 pm

    “oic. well, in this case, employee agrees to work overtime. We cannot control how “katulong” want to live their lives. It’s none of our biz.”

    Your’s is the employee-type of Katulong.

    My type is something else. these are the type of katulong which I see in my part of the world. They “live-in”, they are being lend to relatives when the main boss travels abroad, they are not covered by the local labor law, no day offs, in some cases, not allowed to own a mobile phone. She has no choice to work over time or not, she stay 730/24 - as she is not paid according to time rendered.

    Like a slave, she calls her master as “AMO”

  12. leytenian on October 21st, 2008 5:42 am

    Slavery in Philippines is linked to poverty. There should be labor law implemented in this type of industry. who’s fault? it’s our policy maker. this is also connected to human rights issue.

  13. Jon Limjap on October 21st, 2008 9:04 am

    Looks like the katulong=slavery camp has moved to FV from sassylawyer’s blog. Welcome! :P

  14. ate on October 25th, 2008 1:42 am

    Forgive me, but there is a big difference in a job and slavery. In jobs we take pride, whether it is being a katulong or DH, because that job is an honest employment… a world of difference in slavery and prostitution because its a complete disregard on a person as a human being. While it is true, our professional teachers chose to work as DH, it doesnt make them less as a person who deserve respect.

  15. Cleaning Lady on December 6th, 2008 9:48 am

    Nice and usefull post, thanks, this is one for my bookmarks!

Leave a Reply