MANILA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has formally apologized for a comedy show it aired that offended Filipinos both in the United Kingdom and in the Philippines, the Philippine government said on Friday.

    The apology was contained in a letter dated Oct. 10, from BBC Director General Mark Thompson to Philippine Ambassador in Londan Edgardo Espiritu, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

    In a Sept. 26 episode of "Harry and Paul," the comedy sketch showed comedian Harry Enfield ordering his Filipino maid to mate with his friend Paul Whitehouse. The Filipino woman was shown gyrating in front of Whitehouse in an effort to seduce him.

    Following the release of the show, which obviously upset the 200,000-strong Filipino community in the United Kingdom, the Philippine embassy in London sent letters to different British government offices, including the Mayor of London, and the BBC itself to protest the "slur" on Filipino domestic workers in Britain.

    Filipinos in both the Philippines and Britain protested the "insulting reference to Filipino women, typifying them in a dual role as domestic workers and sex toys of their British employers."

    In the letter, Thompson asked the Filipinos to accept his "sincere apologies, on behalf of the BBC, for the offense that this program caused."

    Overseas Filipino workers are considered "modern-day heroes" of the Philippines, whose billions of dollars of remittances act as a cornerstone of the national economy in the Southeast Asian country.

    It was the second time in recent months that Filipinos reacted vehemently against their negative portrayal on major foreign television. Last year, Filipinos were offended by the American Broadcasting Co. and made the U.S. TV giant apologize and deleted the controversial segment from its TV show "Desperate Housewives."