Ramos bans screenings of maid's life story

Ramos bans screenings of maid's life story

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos yesterday banned a movie on Filipina maid Sarah Balabagan's ordeal in the United Arab Emirates, saying it could upset ties between Manila and Abu Dhabi, officials said.

The film tells the story of 19-year-old Balabagan, a Filipino Moslem girl saved by a royal pardon from a firing squad in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where she was convicted for the 1994 stabbing death of her Arab employer, whom she said tried to rape her.

Presidential Executive Secretary Ruben Torres said he received a fax from Ramos, currently visiting Bahrain, ordering him to "take all necessary actions to defer public showing of the movie due to an anticipated negative impact" on bilateral ties.

He said it could also lead to "risk of failure in negotiations to save John Aquino," a Filipino who has appealed his death sentence before the UAE Supreme Court for the killing of an Indian fellow worker, and other Filipinos hoping for clemency.

The ban coincided with a temporary restraining order issued by a lower court yesterday. The temporary ban would be in effect pending a court ruling on the petition of a Moslem group who said the movie offended their Islamic faith.

The movie, produced by Viva Films, was scheduled to be shown in Manila theaters today. The producers were not available for comment.

Foreign Department Undersecretary Leonides Caday, who had seen the film, said in a report to Ramos the movie portrayed the UAE judicial system "in a bad light."

Caday also described the scene where Balabagan was given 100 lashes as "exaggerated" because it showed a burly male jailguard hitting Sarah with a large stick.

"Ordinarily, if the inmate is female, a female guard will do the lashing," Caday said.

Caday also said that the rape scene in the movie, which showed that Balabagan's employer did not succeed in raping her, and the splattering of blood on the wall when Balabagan repeatedly stabbed her employer "might touch the sensitivity of the UAE government."

Director Joel Lamangan said last week when the movie's premier was canceled that the movie was based on the personal account of Balabagan and accused the Philippine government of "censorship of the first order."

He said scholars from the University of the Philippines and the government's Office of Moslem Affairs had been consulted during the making of the movie.