Alec Baldwin always seems to let his mouth get him into trouble. After commenting about getting a mail-order bride from the Philippines, many from the Philippines expressed anger over the remarks. In response today Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan issued the following response:

"By being in the bureau’s blacklist, Baldwin is forbidden from entering the country as he is deemed an undesirable alien."

The remark that drew the angry response came on May 12 when Baldwin commented on the David Letterman show:

"I think about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point or a Russian one, I don’t care, I’m 51."

Today Baldwin issued this apology today:

"While on the David Letterman program, I joked that I might need a ’ mail-order bride ’ to achieve the goal of having more children in my life. I believe that most people understood that this was a joke and took it as such. (A dated reference, no doubt, and another sign of my advancing age.) However, I do apologize to anyone who took offense. The comments of some Philippine government officials come as no surprise to me, either. Even the one by a former action film star-turned-Senator who beckoned me to come to the Philippines so he could ’beat’ me over my comment."

Libanan said Baldwin appeared to condone the mail-order bride scheme, which is a criminal act prohibited and punishable under Republic Act 6955. Libanan did not address or comment on the increasingly popular trend of Filipino women marrying, usually Caucasian, American men to get a marriage visa to come to the United States.

Despite the fact that Baldwin also mentioned a Russian mail-order bride, there has been no response at all from the Russian government, which probably reflects their understanding that it was meant as a joke. The Philippine government, and offended citizens, might learn from the Russian example.

As Abraham Lincoln once said:

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt.”