Philippines slams US drama series for depicting president making sexual advance toward secretary of state

Manila on Tuesday “strongly protested” an American television drama for showing a fictional Philippine president making a sexual advance on the US secretary of state.

In the trailer for the latest edition ofMadam Secretary, the lead character punches “the Philippines’ unconventional new president” in the face and gives him a bloody nose in reaction to his unwanted pass.

“I clobbered a world leader instead of saving a major regional agreement,” the secretary of state says.

The Philippine embassy in Washington released a statement saying it had written to the producers of the show, CBS network, to urgently request it “take the necessary corrective actions”.

“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 [the] way our nation navigates foreign affairs,” the statement said. “It also tarnishes the Philippines’ longstanding advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality.”

While the description for the trailer used a fictional name for the Philippine president, the embassy said the show mirrored current events.

The real Philippine 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 criticised Duterte for saying hewanted to rape a “beautiful” Australian missionarywho 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 criticised for wolf whistling a woman journalist at a press conference and joking about looking at his female vice president’s legs. But Duterte has won praise for a range of policies promoting women’s rights, including reproductive health.

Philippine authorities have a history of protesting negative portrayals in Hollywood of Filipinos.

In 2009, the Philippine government demanded an apology from actor Alec Baldwin for joking about wanting to get a Filipina mail-order bride.

The producers of the top-ratedDesperate Housewivesshow also apologised in 2007 after a lead character put down Filipino doctors.

(AFP)