Says Teri Hatcher before she lashed out the punchline concerning the quality of Philippine Medical education. This was the premiere episode of Desperate Housewives season four and was aired last September 30, 2007 in the US. Below is the transcript of the joke and the clip itself.
MD: I know for a lot of women the word menopause has negative connotations. They hear aging, brittle bones, loss of sexual desire...
Susan: Before you go any further, can I check those diplomas? I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines..."
So, most of the Filipino medical practitioners around the world are in an uproar, wanting a public apology from the ABC network as well as from the actress herself. Even the Philippine Government has joined the hoola-baloo although there are more important issues to be concerned with.
I just pity Teri Hatcher for summoning the wrath of the Filipino people (or those Filipino people who are swayed by the issue) with her bad choices. I mean, the mastermind behind it all is the writers of the show. But any kind of publicity-good or bad-is still publicity, so good for Teri Hatcher. Just don't make the mistake of stepping into Philippine territory or she'll be skinned alive by the our doctors, nurses and everyone in the medical field including the faith-healers and the 'albularyos'.
I liked the first season of Desperate Housewives since it had a witty storyline. Too bad, I did not have the time to catch the following seasons and I'm more into Heroes now -- Yatta!
On other news. Back in 1998 with the Claire Danes incident:
In 1998, just after the filming of Brokedown Palace in Manila, she was quoted in Vogue as saying that Manila was a "ghastly and weird city". She further remarked in Premiere that the city, "smelled of cockroaches, with rats all over and that there is no sewage system and the people do not have anything -- no arms, no legs, no eyes".
f*ck them!!!