Letter to Editor re Pantasya ng Bayan Ad
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MS. LORNA KALAW-TIROL
The Reader’s Advocate
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Chino Roces Avenue, Quezon City
Dear Ms. Tirol,
We would like to register, strongly and in no uncertain terms, our objection to the publication , in your 17 March 2007 issue, of the advertisement of VIVA Productions, Inc. soliciting girls, 18-21 years old, to submit their biodata and photo for a possible multi-media career.
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With an air-brushed picture of the lower half of a naked woman posed seductively, the advertisement headlined, in big, bold letters, its opening come-on “DO YOU WANT TO BE THE NEXT PANTASYA NG BAYAN?” Outlining the qualifications for inclusion that require “ looks that kill, a drop dead gorgeous body, scene-stealing personalities, and ready to take off their inhibitions, “ it then ended with a dare and a promise to “strut your stuff and see your multi-media career rise to the top.”
Before this kind of exploitative advertising, we cannot remain indifferent, not because of a puritanical mentality or a narrow sense of morality, but because it undermines and destroys extremely important core values. We are left aghast at its blatant violation of the dignity of the human body in its femininity, debasing it to its purely sexual form. We are appalled at its sheer insensitivity to the integrity of the Filipino culture, steeped as it is in Christian ethics, encouraging our vulnerable girls, young as they are, to shamelessly do away with their sense of privacy of the body, aspire to be objects of sexual desire, and base their self-worth on shallow and transient physical attributes alone. We are astonished at its brazen flouting of our laws, specifically Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking Law of 2003, which, affirming the inherent human dignity of men and women, has made it a crime to recruit persons, with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge and taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Further, this kind of advertising not only violates the human body in its femininity but violates it in its masculinity as well. Corollarily , it leaves the message to men that it is OK to ogle at and fantasize on young girls who possess “looks that kill, drop dead gorgeous bodies, scene-stealing personalities, and ready to take off their inhibitions.” But let us all be reminded here about Christ’s exhortation in the Sermon on the Mount : “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:28)
For these reasons, this kind of advertisement cannot be, should not be, and must not be allowed to see print, more so in what we regard as a respectable and prestigious news daily like the Philippine Daily Inquirer. What a disappointment!
Sincerely,
MARITA F. WASAN
Executive Director
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