ARMM Govt demands public apology from GMA noontime show Eat Bulaga, producers
Marawi City, Philippines
November 1, 2015
The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) demanded apology from the national television GMA noontime show Eat Bulaga for mocking the image of the Muslim apparently in the name of entertainment in its show last Sunday.
A statement of ARMM’s information bureau said, “The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao takes offense at and is appalled by the stunt pulled on national TV by noontime show Eat Bulaga on Saturday, October 31 -- where hosts Joey de Leon and Sen. Tito Sotto came out dressed as Muslims for their Halloween Special.”
The statement lamented that the show displayed insensitivity of the hosts by equating the Muslim garb to a costume to be feared of in the way that zombies and ghouls are feared.
“We remind the hosts and the producers of the show of how Muslims are quite often discriminated against in our society, often stereotyped as troublemakers and terrorists,” stressed the statement.
Saying that what Eat Bulaga did was a mockery of and an affront to the image of the Muslim, apparently in the name of entertainment, the bureau said that “It was not too long ago that we raised our voices in indignation over the stereotypical presentation of the National Bureau of Investigation of a Zamboanga bombing suspect as being a "Muslim-type."
“On behalf of the Filipino Moro people, we demand that producers and hosts of the noontime show issue a public apology,” concluded the statement. TNRS
