Cops furious at ‘disrespectful’ striptease of James Reid in ‘OTWOL’
James Reid is in hot water with policemen after a steamy scene on “On The Wings Of Love.” SCREENGRAB FROM ABS-CBN’S YOUTUBE ACCOUNT
While “Leah,” Nadine Lustre’s character in the ABS-CBN show “On the Wings of Love” (OTWOL) enjoyed watching “Clark,” played by James Reid, stripping in a police uniform, cops were furious at the scene aired on the show’s Monday episode.
Angered police officers and Philippine National Police sympathizers took to social media to demand actors and producers of the hit show not to use the police uniform as clothing for male strippers.
The stills of Clark stripping for Leah, his would-be wife, in the latter’s bridal shower went viral after a PNP member shared the photos in the Facebook group “Police Digest sa FB.”
READ: James Reid: I’m in love
Policemen and women in the comments section complained that the “OTWOL” scene degraded the image of the police and gave a “long lasting impression that PNP men are significantly, totally, absolutely sex maniacs.”
The officers said the show should recognize the sanctity of the PNP uniform, pointing out that some poor cops in the provinces would pawn off their cows for them to be able to buy and wear a decent police uniform.
“One word… Disrespectful,” a police officer who asked not to be named told INQUIRER.net.
Offended by Reid’s depiction of a policman, he said: “Pinaghihirapan kasi namin para lang maisuot ang uniporme ng pulis at (We work hard just so we can wear our uniform and) we are proud of wearing it.”
In the Monday episode of the show, Reid, wearing a PNP general office uniform with a Quezon City Police District badge and an SPO4 rank, stripped and danced on top of Lustre.
Some called the PNP leadership to gather entertainment firms in a general conference to orient them about the ethical standard of the organization-particularly the use of police uniform.
“PNP top management should not tolerate this… I Believe in PNP transformation and police officers are painstakingly doing it wholeheartedly… To degrade this would be a direct insult to all the effort the PNP is doing for its image,” one policeman said.
Meanwhile, the Police Community Relations Group (PCRG) asked the television networks to thoroughly review sensitive scenes, especially when it concerns the use of uniforms of government personnel.
“Sana lang po lahat ng inilalabas sa TV ay nirereview ng maayos tulad ng paggamit ng tama sa uniporme. May batas po tayo d’yan #OTWOLAcceptance,” it said in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
(We hope they review what they show on TV especially when it involves the use of our uniform. There is a law that provides for that.)
While most policemen were infuriated, one commenter gave a positive insight on the incident.
READ: A ‘teleserye’ that’s not just soap
“At least ngayon hindi n tayo gingawang panakot sa mga bata. Sa ganyang ginagawa ng media e medyo napapalapit ang loob ng mga tao sa’tin, it’s part of building confidence to our stakeholders. Total si probinsyanong Cardo e todo arangkada naman,” the officer said.
(At least now, we are not used to just scare off children. Because of what the media is doing, we are being humanized to other people; it’s part of building confidence to our stakeholders. Besides, “Cardo” is doing well.)
The police officer was pertaining to actor Coco Martin in another top-rating ABS-CBN show “Ang Probinsyano,” where he portrays “Cardo” as a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) cop. IDL
