Desperate Housewives jokes about Med Schools in the Philippines

It wasn’t even a racist remark.

It’s time for Filipinos to stop whining when a foreigner says derogatory remark about the Philippines or it inhabitants.

Racist jokes against dark skinned people, gays, bisayans and Batangueno’s accent in the Philippines have been going on and accepted as normal.

When somebody says “Yuck, hindi ako bisaya ha.” I find it offensive, but i received it with grace and self-control.

It is kinda offending that they relate the philippines as a place where cheating is rampant pero there’s some truth to the matter din kasi. I just hope the writers be a bit sensitive nex time.

It only speaks of a reality..

Instead of going to arms about the remark, I think we should focus on taking on the problem that spurred it, which is the rampant cheating in our country.

Oh come on people…where is your sense of humor?! Why don’t you just take it with a grain of salt will ya?

Reality is diplomas alone don’t make a doctor. The statement is invalid. Like I wrote in my blog, A lot of Filipino doctors migrate to the US and pass the same USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Exams) that US-educated doctors take. The fact that our Philipine-educated doctors pass the same examinations which requires a higher percentage score from them as foreign medical graduates proves that med schools in the Philippines are just as good as any other medical school in the US.

american suck !! don’t discriminate pinoy’s !! we rock !! and u guys suck….

fuck back america !

my take is that the line is derogatory and completely unnecessary for the script. it could have simply been “a diploma from the internet” or some jungle elsewhere. I am not raged by this incident. But I understand how people from the medical profession might feel about this.

“bato bato sa langit… ang tamaan ‘wag magagalit…” Some Filipinos find it funny, some made them mad… Can’t we, Filipinos, really can’t take a joke??? or are we just really guilty…???”

haha. exactly.. and as Abe already pointed out.. they’re into the “some” med schools. Imagine.. you see a lot of med schools since the start of the “Nursing” booooom! and I think the whole world knows that… even us. We know that there are now 6 month courses that will make a caregiver. The Med schools of this and that and this has appeared… established in the year… 2005 or 2006 or even 2007

speaking of racist well check this out
http://www.alistercameron.com/2007/03/15/another-stupid-seo-strategy-the-filipino-link-builder-who-cant-write/

After all I can’t see racism on the scene. It was just purely humor.

Noemi,

I personally know two doctors who studied in provincial colleges who are well-placed in the US as doctors.

I think even our papers exaggerrate the doctors-turned-nurses-in-the-US trend. Several of my high school batch mates are now doctors either in the US, Canda or Australia. So far none in the UK or Europe though there’s on in South Africa. Of course almost half of my WVSU high school batch went into nurses’ school. Most of them are abroad now as nurses.

this is so ******* hilarious. no, seriously, nakakatawa sya. and ang OA ng mga nag react negatively towards that. its a shame if some organization does a formal complain or whatevs about that, eh ung mga indians nga and the chinese hindi nag re-react against racial slurs thrown at them na higit namang mas nakakasuya, eh tayo pa.

“The comments were totally outrageous. We are sending a complaint to the US FCC, the World Medical Association, and to the TV network and producers of the show to ask that the same be rectified because it is demeaning to the character and dignity of Filipino doctors,” said Castro. FROM INQUIRER.NET

OMG! PLEASE STOP THEM FROM DOING THIS! MAS LALONG NAKAKAHIYA! this is so overacting. i cant believe our government sectors are acting this way. sasabihin pa nilang vehement protest ng buong sambayanang pilipino. protest their mouth.

pL
EASE READ AND SIGN. THANKS!
Joana Palomar, Spokesperson, Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, 212-564-6057, ugnayan****@****.***

Statement of Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland) on the Racist Comment Made Against Filipinos on Desperate Housewives

Progressive Filipino American youth in New York and New Jersey strongly condemn ABC’s Desperate Housewives’ executive producer and writer Marc Cherry and the other producers, editors and the director of the show for the racist remark made against Filipinos in the Sept. 30, 2007 episode. We join the Filipino community and its allies in demanding from ABC a public apology and recognition of the existence of systemic racism in the corporate media and corporate-driven pop culture.

In the Sept. 30, 2007 episode of Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher’s character is told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause, to which she replies, “Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines.” The comment reflects systemic racism at its worst. Targeting an entire education system (rather than targeting individuals based on skin color, which is how we have traditionally defined racism), the comment is based on the racist assumption that the products of a western education are far more qualified than the products of a Philippine education.

Filipino youth, conscious and aware of our history, know that it was the US who set up the Philippine education system in the first place when the Philippines was a direct colony of the US in the early 1900s. We understand that the main beneficiary of this crippled Philippine education system IS the US, especially in the medical field. The US opens and closes its doors to immigrants based not on qualifications, but on the need for labor. This was the case at the height of the “Brain Drain” in the 70’s and 80’s when there was an influx of medical professionals migrating from the Philippines into the US, and US immigration laws were relatively lenient. However, once saturated with medical professionals, the US closed its doors by setting up stricter immigration policies.

Filipino youth, conscious and aware of the issues of our community, know that the Filipino medical professionals who migrated in the 70’s and 80’s are becoming replaced by a new generation of service workers, mostly domestic workers, who hold the same degrees from the same colleges as the previous generation, but who are working much less desirable jobs. There is a systemic de-skilling of the Filipino community in which the primary beneficiary is the US, and in which the US corporate media and corporate-driven pop culture are complicit. This large-scale de-skilling of an entire population would never be acceptable to white Americans, but is so palatable that it is a punchline in a TV show. That is racism on a systemic level.

Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan condemns ABC and the staff of Desperate Housewives for being complicit in the problems that plague our community and for perpetuating systemic racism. We support the initiative of so many in our community who are taking action on this issue and urge all to sign the online petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/. We will take action if ABC does not heed the demands of the Filipino community.

Ugnayan vows to continue the struggle of Filipino youth and all Filipinos against systemic racism; and to fight for the genuine development of our community and for the life and liberation of the Filipino people as a whole.

Demand an apology from ABC!
End systemic racism!

hahaha

masakit bang pakinggan ang totoo?

@newyorker
I wont specifically support the Filipinos’s anti-racism stance, i support the anti-racism struggle for all races! Be it Black, malay, caucasian, indians etc.!

Years ago in a sitcom of Lucy Torres, one of her scripts goes like this:

“Ang pangit mo naman, Igorot siguro parents mo”

The one non-Igorot guy from Starstruck 3 is famous for his line:

“Gusto si Marky ang maalis kasi mukha siya Igorot”

With these lines, aren’t we more ‘racist’?

Nagagalit siguro ang Pinoy dahil guilty sila.

Why is so easy for Filipino to get offended by vague ‘discriminatory(??- supposed-to-be-daw -)’ statements by other people when we ourselves practice blatant discrimination against each other?! And the way we discriminate each other isn’t funny at all.

Apology has been made here

North America New Bureau chief Ging Reyes, meanwhile, reported that some members of the Filipino community showed discontent despite the apology.

Reyes said Filipinos are demanding for a retraction of the insulting line in one of the episodes of the TV series. Filipinos want to see a scene where the medical profession in the Philippines is being praised by one of the characters.

Are we really that insecure that we react to every slight? This is just like a dumb kid calling you fat.

Even if you’re fat or not, will you whine that some dumb kid call you fat?

It was from a fictional tv show. Not a documentary. Not a newscast.

Will everybody please stop whining?

Kris,

Iba sa America.

don’t we say nasty generalizations about other groups as well, especially about Americans, Indians, and the Chinese?

Plus the only way they’d know about these things is if they have a Pinoy staff writer.

Filipino doctors are one of the best and respected professionals in the US. They are not from Nigeria or Nicaragua where they fake crednetials and open up back room clinics in NY only to be arrested and imprisoned! Theses fakes do not take the state board exams and submit medical credentials and take further studies. These FAKES dont make it in the US and they are big new in US tabloids.
Whereas, Filipino doctors and medical professionals almost always pass the state boards and academic credentialing and state clinical internships. They are most respected.
..some fake med schools in the Phils….this doesnt come easy..and it doesnt happen. THATS THE OUTRAGE!! If a fake filipino doctor exists in the US, you can bet my dollars, 5 filipinos will report him to the nearest US immigration themselves even for a measly $300 reward.
Recto diplomas are those for contractual workers who need high school diplomas to get dirt jobs anywhere.
Cheating in nursing exams? you think our students knew about this? It was the work of crooked officials in the PRC (Professionals commission) selling out exams to review centers for money at the expense of students who burn the midnight oil studying for the exams. These officals have been sacked!
AS a fact, anywhere in the world, Filipino medical professionals are the best,very communicative, caring and damn good at what they do!!!MABUHAY and FILIPINO.
Dont take Desperate Housewives slur sitting down!
Take a stand and be counted!

@ mae “Iba tayo sa mga chikanos,latinos, etc. Matalino at masipag at..”

see what I mean.

To Berlin:

When I mentioned chikanos and latinos, understand it in the context of professionals as i intented. Nothing derogatory.. They came by outrunning the police by jumping the fence and crossing the american borders. We, pinoys came by plane with ONLY an education to be proud of! Enough in our heads to understand the language of America and how it is said. You dont see filipinos gathered in a street corner looking for jobs in the early mornings to do someone’s lawn or paint someone’s fence, do you? It’s because we have the qualified education, and not just from some med school in the Phils. that doesnt exist. That “Desperate Housewives” episode really hurt!
Dollar for dollar, we work hard! not only for ourselves but for our families back home! IBA TAYO TALAGA! DONT YOU AGREE?

to jeffry..
can’t believe your sorry ass saying that about filipinos. I can tell you’re this backward thinking filipinos who were acting, talking exactly like you .. talks like a loser and takes descrimination as if it’s really a way of life… you’re sitting in your couch and don’t even care? don’t speak for filipinos because we are not even close to be like you .. we are the new generation of filipinos who care about our well being and our image and our country.. uwi ka sa bundok gago..