Letter to ABC from Dr. Legaspi

October 7,2007

Mr. Stephen McPherson
President, ABC Entertainment, ABC Television Series
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-0001

Dear Mr. McPherson,

On behalf of myself and all my Filipino colleagues in the medical community, I express our extreme displeasure and outrage at the inappropriate and uninformed line in last Sunday's episode of "Desperate Housewives". When Teri Hatcher disparaged the validity of the medical degrees from the Philippines, you and your network scarred the reputation of the Filipino educational system and insulted each and every Filipino-American who has dedicated their lives to serve those in medical need. Writers as talented as those employed by ABC should be witty enough to devise a clever line that conveys the character's dismay without denigrating one of the largest and most talented sub-populations in the United States. While freedom of speech is one of our fundamental rights, blatant racism strikes against the very fiber of the United States, where equality and racial tolerance are pillars of our great society..

Please be aware that the line has greatly offended
1. Philippine trained physicians
2. Filipino-American Professionals
3. The Philippine Educational System

AND the millions of patients who have received first-rate professional care from Filipino doctors.

Filipino-Americans are sometimes referred to as the "Invisible Minority". However, be aware that in the United States, there are at least 22,000 Philippine-American physicians, who have earned the trust and loyalty of their patients. These doctors have served thousand, even millions of Americans combined, not to mention as physicians to U.S. Presidents Bush and Clinton (under the care of Rear Admiral Eleanor Mariano) and former President Ronald Reagan (Dr. Honorato Nicodemus was his anesthesiologist when he got shot in 1981). Moreover, there are about four million Filipino-Americans living in this country, accounting for 21% of the Asian-American population. Among Asian-Americans, we possess the highest median household income. We patronize each and every one of your advertisers and represent a large component of your viewing audience. If need be, we can bring our collective efforts together, informing advertisers that we shall no longer purchase products and services that pay a network that supports racism.

Mr. McPherson, I commend you and your network's first steps towards rectifying this matter by issuing a public aplogy and removing the offensive line from any future airings of the episode in the medium. However, given the gravity of the insult, you must agree such measures alone are terribly insufficient. We believe that a real dialogue between you and leaders of the Filipino-American medical community should take place as soon as possible, such that we can discuss proper remedial steps. We also ask that the copy writers and /or actress directly involved be sufficiently sanctioned either through monetary penalty or another equally effective measure.

"First, do no harm" We swear thin in our medical profession. Please respect our culture and our education.

Sincerely,

Amante G. Legaspi, M.D.
Chairman, Board of Trustees
Far Eastern University
Dr. Nicanor Reyes Shool of Medicine Alumni Foundation, USA
Past President, Association of Philippine Physicians
President, ChesapeakeVirginaMedical Society

Copy:
Ms. Anne Sweeney (Co-Chair, Disney Media networks & President, Disney ABC Television Group)
Mr. Marc Cherry (Creator & Executive Producer, Desperate Housewives)
Mr. Mark Pedowitz (President,ABC Studios)
The Honorable Willy Gaa (Ambassador to the United States, Republic of the Philippines)
Mr. Libertito Pelayo (Publisher, The Filipino Reporter)