BBC apologizes for Flipina demeaning "Harry and Paul"

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has issued an apology for airing a comedy sketch that portrayed a Filipino woman in a very demeaning manner.

“Firstly, we're sorry if you were in any way offended by the program as this wasn't our intention,” the BBC’s Complaints Division stated.

The complaints division of the network described 'Harry & Paul' as a “post-watershed comedy sketch show well-known for its exaggerated humour and absurd characters.”

“It in no way represents real people and was never intended to offend or demean any viewer,” it added.

An official complaint was emailed to the network following the airing of the show on September 26. The show outraged many Filipinos, women’s groups and even lawmakers prompting the Philippine government to direct the foreign affairs department to act on the issue.

“We recognize that you were personally offended by the sketch and would like to assure you that your complaint has been registered on our audience log,” the complaints division stated.

It said that audience feedback also reaches BBC’s executive board, channel controllers, senior managers and staff.

The letter explained that the offending sketch is from a series known as “Northern Monkey” which is “featured strongly in both series of the program over the last two years.”