'Filipinos' food label protested

'Filipinos' food label protested

MANILA (DPA): The Philippines formally protested on Friday the
use of "Filipinos" as a brand of cookies and pretzels being sold
in Europe, which has offended lawmakers and President Joseph
Estrada, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

In a statement, the department said separate protests were
filed by the Philippine Embassy in Madrid with the manufacturer
of the food items, Nabisco Iberia S.L., a Barcelona-based
subsidiary of the American RJR Nabisco Inc., and the Spanish
Foreign Ministry.

The Philippine Embassy in Brussels also filed a protest with
the European Union, the statement added.

In the complaint filed with Nabisco Iberia, the Philippines
also "demanded the manufacturer desist from selling the said
product until a new name is given to these biscuits", said Cora
Patarata, a foreign affairs spokeswoman.

Estrada and legislators have criticized the use of Filipinos
as a food label as an insult to the Filipino people. The Senate
and the House of Representatives both passed resolutions
demanding the Department of Foreign Affairs immediately protest
what they called a "racial slur".

The cookies and pretzels are reportedly very small, "dark
outside and white inside", which the lawmakers said appeared to
be a jab at the Filipinos' physique -- short and brown-skinned --
and their reputed colonial mentality.

The food items have been sold in Spain, the United Kingdom and
other parts of Europe for the past 10 years, officials said.