Filipinos in NY concerned over Baldwin's 'joke'

MANILA, Philippines - Concerned by 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin’s plans to buy himself a Filipina bride, the Filipino community in New York will be sending a letter to the A-list actor and the producers of the talk show that interviewed him over the insensitive remark.

Cecilia Rebong, Philippine consul general to New York, is sending a letter to Baldwin and the producers of the Late Show with David Letterman “to express deep concern over the derogatory remarks" made by the actor. The “Late Show"and “30 Rock" are taped at the NBC studios inside the GE Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

“The consulate shares the sentiments expressed by many others that although said in jest, the remarks displayed insensitivity and tactlessness," the consulate said in a statement.

Baldwin – a divorced father of a 13-year-old girl – told David Letterman in one of his last interviews on the Late Show, how he thought of getting, or buying, himself a Filipina bride.

“I think about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point or a Russian one, I don’t care, I’m 51," Baldwin told Letterman in a May 12 interview. [See: Alec Baldwin's Letterman interview]

Baldwin’s joke left a bitter taste in the mouth for lawmaker and women’s rights activist Risa Hontiveros.

“He totally doesn’t deserve a Filipina wife," Hontiveros told GMANews.TV on Monday evening. “He meant that as a joke but it was totally foul." [See: 'Alec Baldwin doesn’t deserve a Filipina wife']

Aside from Hontiveros, several lawmakers, particularly Senators Loren Legarda and Bong Revilla Jr. are demanding an apology from Baldwin. [See: Alec Baldwin's 'RP mail-order bride remark' irks senator]

"For him, it is funny but to the millions of Filipinos, it is mockery. Bad joke, not worth laughing," said Revilla, himself a celebrity in the Philippine movie industry.

Between 20,000 and 100,000 Filipino women and children are being pushed to human smuggling, according to Humantrafficking.org.

Facilitating or arranging a marriage between a Filipina and a foreigner is also prohibited under Republic Act 6955 of the Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law of 1990.

Violators face imprisonment of between six to eight years, and the payment of a fine between P8,000 and P20,000. A foreign national caught engaged in such a scheme will also be meted the same penalties then deported and barred from entering the Philippines for life. - with Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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