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E-mailOn the Late Show with David Letterman, American actor Alec Baldwin mentioned that despite being divorced, he'd like to have more children and was “...thinking about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point...or a Russian one.” The remark prompted laughter from the crowd and Letterman to reply “Get one for me, for later.”
The comment was meant as a joke, but Filipinos are taking it very seriously. Former action movie star Senator Ramon Revilla has called Baldwin “arrogant”, and what he said “insensitive and uncalled for” and an insult to millions of Filipinos.
In an interview with GMAnews.tv, politician and women's rights activist Risa Hontiveros said “He meant that as a joke but it was totally foul.” According to Hontiveros, what is more alarming is that "[Baldwin's] comment is already anecdotal evidence of the growing phenomenon of mail-order-brides and the perception of foreigners that those are Filipinas." Jean Enriquez, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, says that “...Joking about mail-order brides... is trivializing human smuggling.”
Human smuggling and the sale of mail-order brides is punishable by law in the Philippines under Republic Act 6955 or the Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law of 1990.
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