Malacañang to Taylor Kitsch: Correct your mistake

MANILA, Philippines – Should Hollywood actor Taylor Kitsch and producers of the “David Letterman Show” apologize or at least publicly “correct” the actor’s mistake when he mentioned the Philippines when he was referring to an incident that happened in Indonesia? 

“Yes, they should correct it,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing on Sunday, March 4.

Kitsch made news in the country when he told David Letterman on Wednesday, February 29, that Philippine Customs officials refused to allow him entry in our country, and asked him to return to Japan as his passport didn’t have enough pages to accommodate more stamps.

He added that, while he was showing a clip of himself on his iPhone to prove that he’s an actor, the Customs official allegedly asked him for an iPhone unit, too.

His visit, he said, was to finish filming the movie Oliver Stone’s “Savages” here. (Watch Taylor Kitsch’s interview on the Late Show with David Letterman below)

Valte noted that “it is evident that Taylor Kitsch was not here and his unfortunate experience did not happen in the Philippines” since Kitsch’s film, Oliver Stone’s “Savages”, was being filmed in Indonesia.

She said a check with the Bureau of Immigration showed that no one by the name of Taylor Wade Kitsch–the actor’s name as it appears in his passport–passed through the country’s airports, and no working visa had been issued to that person to appear in a film being shot in the Philippines.

“We will leave that first to Commissioner Biazon primarily because it was his department that was allegedly involved,” she said, adding that Biazon is expected to “write formally [to those concerned] to address the issue.”

Biazon has written in his blog Friday, March 2, that no airport records show Kitsch visited Manila, and that his officers do not stamp passports. 

“Mr. Kitsch, perhaps you can help us redeem our lost pride. Not just my agency, but my country as well,” Biazon wrote. -Rappler.com