Philippine Senator Threatens To Beat Alec Baldwin Over Joke

MANILA, Philippines — Alec Baldwin's joke about getting a Filipino mail-order bride provoked a sharp response in the Philippines, with one senator saying Monday that the "30 Rock" star faces violence if he ever visits.

Baldwin, 51, who is divorced with a teenage daughter, said in a May 12 interview on "The Late Show" with David Letterman that he would love to have more children.

The Emmy-winning actor quipped that he was "thinking about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point ... or a Russian one."

Baldwin has been involved in a bitter dispute with his ex-wife, Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger, over custody of their 13-year-old daughter, Ireland.

Philippine Sen. Ramon Revilla said Monday that Baldwin's comment was "insensitive and uncalled for" and an insult to millions of Filipinos.

He called the actor "arrogant" and said he is apparently unaware that the Philippines has a law against mail-order brides.

"Let him try to come here in the Philippines and he'll see mayhem," Revilla said, using a local idiom that implies the speaker will personally administer a beating.

The senator is a former action-movie star who occasionally still appears on Philippine TV.

Comments

[Justin Galanto]

I'm a Filipino (born and raised in America) and thought it was funny... the good Senator from the P.I. should be focused on more pertinent things... like the rampant poverty in the country.

[luvgun]

Please don't call the Philippines "P.I." It's an outdated and colonial term. Having said that, I do agree that the Senator has better things to do.

[Vieux Charles]

"Please don't call the Philippines "P.I." It's an outdated and colonial term."


Go soak your head.

[cungar]

Huh? Now appreviations insult people? Is saying USA OK with you?

[HerbTee]

The "P.I." is more of a US military term for the Philippines than an outdated colonial term. Anyway, why is that reference offensive?

[Vieux Charles]

When I first arrived in the P.I. in 1985 I went running* w/ a dude that had been there for six months. I'd never been to the bars in Angeles City, but my friend Eric had. The first bar we went to was The Third Eye and the girls were all gorgeous, I figured I didn't stand a chance. Eric looked at me and said, "when I was a kid I wanted to grow to be David Lee Roth". He snapped his fingers and a filipina that looked like a young Tia Carrera came trotting over and sat right in his lap. Then he continued, "now I am". Not long after that I became engaged to a beautiful filipina. Married now 22+ years. She's still beautiful and we have two wonderful kids. Beautiful country, lovely people.

*running means 'running the bars', but we also ran cross-country and raced triathalons together


Hot filipina actress, Angel Locsin
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1267/1184966062_b83c2ef684.jpg

[Anonani]

How sad.

[masha2008]

you cannot dictate what is offensive to another. it's subjective. that said revilla should have been more diplomatic in his manner of protest.

[Bill Henderson]

Talk about being blown out of proportion -- It was only a joke on a talk show.

More amazing are those people who have never lived in the Philippines getting on their soapbox rambling about human trafficking as if they knew anything about it.

I live respectfully in the Philippines and the joke was funny.

[b93950]

Yes, it was funny.

[masha2008]

you cannot dictate what is offensive to another. it's subjective.

[HerbTee]

Another tidbit of information my fellow HuffPosters is: technically, there's no such thing as a "mail order" bride. It's an outdated term now used derisively towards Asian female and Western male relationships. For US HuffPosters, did you know that US immigration laws towards the Philippines:

a.) Does not allow spousal or fiancee visa approvals for Philippine born spouses who have not met in person at least once (barring very special religious or physical circumstances).

b.) Demands a US fiancee visa for a Filipina can take up to one year to process, while a K-3 visa or IR-1 spousal visa can take up to 1.5 years for approval. During the processing, the Filipina bride or fiancee CANNOT visit or accompany her fiance or husband to the US, but must wait in the Philippines. This makes for long separations or multiple expensive trips for US citizens to visit their loved ones.

c.) Once a Filipina fiancee arrives in the US, she only has 90 days to marry her fiance or her non-immigrant visa expires and she must return to the Philippines.

d.) After marriage a couple must go through a final 2-year "adjustment of status" period to validate the marriage as legitimate before the foreign spouse is awarded a permanent 10-year green card.

Mail order brides? My @ss!

[masha2008]

you are of course presuming that the filipina doesnt already have a visa to go to the u.s. you are only describing one subset of prospective filipino spouses to american citizens.

[HerbTee]

Of course. But you are presuming that a single Filipina, or many Filipinos for that matter, can easily obtain visitor's or tourist visas to visit the US in the first place. Filipino mothers and fathers who permanently immigrate here can petition their children. But petitioning and immigrating other relatives can take many years.

The major problem with issuing visitor's and tourist visas to many Filipinos has been because they tend to overstay their visas and become illegal immigrants­...which is why such visas are very difficult to obtain unless the Filipinos have sufficient ties to the Philippines (homes, businesses, large sums of money, etc.) for them to return.

[Ken Elwell]

That sounds like a credible threat to me.

Time to invade and nullify that threat.

Or we can cut out Stephen Baldwin's tongue and send him in Alec's place.

White people pretty much look alike to them, so I think we can pull it off and improve the overall batting average for the Baldwins in the process.

It's a win-win.

/no-brainer
//slam dunk

[HekmabaJuzimax]

Why do you think Gen. Douglas MacArthur vowed to return to the Philipines? For the mail-order brides, of course!

[HerbTee]

Folks, allow me to enlighten you a little. First of all, Philippine Senator Ramon Revilla, like so many other morally and fiscally corrupt Filipino politicians, is a hypocrite to the highest order. He was an actor in the Philippines and is believed to have sired at least 80 children from multiple Filipino women whom he also never bothered to marry any of them. So, do you think he respects his own Filipino women? Hardly!

Filipino polticians like Revilla are quick to castigate others, especially foreigners, for the squalor and poverty of the Philippines and against those Filipinos who try to escape it...some by any means necessary. Yet, these politicians do almost nothing to improve the country to make it better for the poor huddled masses because they are too busy lining their own pockets with the graft, class warfare and "crab mentality" that is so rampant there.

I for one would like to see the Philippines develop socially and economically to be more on the par with its Asian neighbor countries like Malayasia, Vietnam and others. But I don't think I'll see it happen in my lifetime, if it ever happens at all.

[jsgaetano]

Revilla sounds like someone Republican politicians can be jealous of. He's living the life THEY want!

[jaggededge]

sounds like he's a republican

[nocoward]

ouch!!!

[masha2008]

that's his father. Ramon Sr. Although the fruit doesnt fall far from the tree. Ramon Jr is also a w.o.m.a.n.­i.z.e.r.

[Goliadkin]

Listen, if all humor had to be "sensitive" and "politically correct," there would be no humor at all. What Baldwin said is pretty mild, and it's clear that he was not condoning anything like human trafficking. If this Filipino hotdog wants to pop a wheelie over this, let him try. He just better avoid New York and LA, or we'll break him into three irregularly shaped parts.

[yakaloot]

I wish Alec Baldwin would run for office- congress, Senate. He is intelligent, articulate, a perfect candidate and one we would all benefit from having in office. He knows what it's all about and that's someone we need.

[Goliadkin]

Only problem is, his idiot brother Adam would probably follow suit, and cancel him out. A bigger doofus was never born.

[jaggededge]

don't you mean stoner-lookin right wing tool steven?

[masha2008]

alec doesnt have a brother named adam.

[Diaschisis]

Forget about Baldwin-this is about mail order brides. I usually go to the Philippines once or twice a year as part of a medical group. Every morning we have breakfast in a small coffee shop attached to the only "hotel" in town. And every morning there are two or three, usually quite old, caucasian men with young Filipinas. We strike up conversations and the story is the same. The couple met on some internet site and these girls will be marrying these guys-often sight unseen.
The usual arrangement, especially for the older men is that the girl will be a caretaker- a lot cheaper than hiring around the clock care. The younger men, are looking for young, submissive women. In exchange, the young women send money back home. This also, is the only chance these women will have to get out of the small towns and the poverty they live in.
The revenue sent back home, by the way, is a significant part of the Philippine economy and this behavior is not discouraged by the government. While there is illegal trafficking, I suspect this legal method is much more prevalent. So before Sen. Ramon Revilla gets all holier than thou about this, he needs to look at how his government sanctions this, and how the poverty in his country-due in large part to years of government corruption, forces young girls and women to make these choice.

[HerbTee]

Diaschisis, thank you for your brutally honest expose because you have described some real facts of life occuring in the Philippines.

[Goliadkin]

On the other hand, a friend of mine in Switzerland met his Filipina wife online--and they have three kids and are absurdly happy together. The wife is a great lady, a great mother, and sharp as a tack. Her Swiss German is clear as a bell, and virtually unaccented, and she handles all the household finances impeccably. So, sure, there's the stereotype, but it ain't always so.

[cungar]

Yep, what you say is 100% true. I've seen 70 year old men in the Philippine provinces with gorgeous slender young Filipina brides. You don't even have to look. Geeky men from around the world are everywhere seeking young attractive brides.

[Goliadkin]

Get real. All men are seeking attractive young brides. It's a biological drive.

[masha2008]

"The revenue sent back home, by the way, is a significant part of the Philippine economy"

Not accurate dude. You may be talking about the overseas workers. The Philippines exports labor (drivers, cooks, maids, nannies, machininists, mechanics, seamen etc), all over the world. That's what's bringing significant remittances that help the economy. Those coming from american brides are a pittance compared to those from hard working filipinos who sacrifice being with their children and family for a better life for all of them.

[umannyt]

A Philippine politician suddenly a champion of women? Someone ask him how many mistresses, a common perk (even a badge of honor) especially among many Philippine politicians, he's had. Someone also ask him what he's really done to improve the Philippines' dire economy, a main cause of Filipino mail-order brides, instead of pocketing the people's money.

[HerbTee]

It is said that Senator Revilla, a man reported to be in his 80s and was an actor for many decades, has about 80 children from a multitude of Filipino mistresses.

[masha2008]

That's Revilla Sr. The joke is a school could be populated with just his children enrolled.

[Obamawon]

Baddadd49, you are miserable