Racist remarks vs Pacman angers British Pinoys

A group of British-Filipino artists in London has lodged a complaint against a newspaper in London for allegedly printing racist comments against people's champ Manny Pacquiao.
Sports columnist James Gill wrote in his regular column published by the thelondonpaper, "Top five ways Ricky Hatton can upset Manny Pacquiao," a day before the Battle of the East and West match in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 2.
The group feels Gill was making fun not only of the Pinoy iconic boxer, but of the Filipino people and its culture as well.
The group maintains the sports pundit has to make a distinction between the Philippines and Mexico because they are not one and the same.
Gill's number 5 item in his "top five ways" suggested that Hatton should wear poncho and sombrero. He wrote: "Make way into the ring wearing poncho and sombrero while coughing." The group said he was alluding to Mexico with "poncho and sombrero" while "coughing" is suggesting swine flu where the virus is said to have originated.
"I thought the British media are more globally aware and more sensitive," said Joyce Veheary, an actress both in theatre and television.
"I speak for the British-Filipino. I wasn't born here but I was raised in England and I consider myself British. I find it really insulting that they are making these broad generalizations that aren't even true. It's supposed to be witty but wittiness has to have some intelligence behind it and it hasn't," she added.
Inflammatory
Ed Lao said although the write-up occupied a small portion in the paper, it was very inflammatory. He thought it was tongue-and-cheek at first but the last comment got on his nerves.
"It says 'Change the nickname from the 'Hitman' to 'Me Love You Long Time.' For me that was out of order, way, way out of order. For one thing, how does that relate to Filipinos? That's why we are making this show because we feel there is an injustice and we are labelled incorrectly. If you are going to make a joke, at least make it correct," explained Lao.
The British-Pinoys spoke with ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau after the success of the group's first production, Pearls of the East, which showcased British-Filipino artists and Filipino culture.
Economic offense
For Emily Foster, it was the fourth item in the 'Five ways' that irked her: "Mock the Philippines' poor GDP per capita, while being careful not to highlight their robust agricultural sector." She said it was not a cultural comment but an economic comment that is equally offensive.
"The fact that this country is poorer than this country and to think that we are all going through economic crisis at the moment and that's all they muster up? It's offensive to everybody whether you are Filipino or British," said Foster.
"This blatant racism in thelondonpaper, James Gill, that you think it's actually okay to mock another culture because if it was anyone else, there will be complete uproar. This is absolutely ridiculous. This high level institutional racism which the country says 'Oh no, we don't do' is so apparent in thelondonpaper which everyone can read," said Shaun Ricafranca, a theatre actor and writer.
thelondonpaper is a London daily and is distributed for free. It boasts of a circulation of over half a million and is published by a subsidiary of the same companies that also publish The Sun and The Times.

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