'Banana republic' slur irks Manila

'Banana republic' slur irks Manila

DUBAI (AFP): A Dubai hotel has apologized to the Philippines' ambassador to the Emirates after it named one of its new restaurants "The Banana Republic Filipino Club," the Gulf News daily said on Tuesday.

The name provoked an angry response from the embassy, with ambassador Amable Aguiluz branding it "unsavory" and demanding it be withdrawn immediately, the newspaper said.

"A banana republic could mean an unstable, corrupt government, often ruled by military dictatorship," the ambassador was quoted as saying.

He threatened to remove the Regent Palace Hotel from a list of companies accredited by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, a government agency in charge of recruitment of Filipino workers, Gulf News said.

More than 100,000 Filipinos are employed in the Emirates.