MANILA, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Philippine officials demanded an apology from the BBC on Tuesday over what they said was a racist portrayal of Filipinos in one of the network's comedy shows.

They said an episode of 'Harry and Paul,' the brainchild of British comics Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, humiliated Filipinos working abroad as domestic servants.

'I don't like our fellow Filipinos to be insulted,' said Raul Gonzalez, the country's justice minister. He said he would add his name to a petition calling for an apology from the British broadcaster.

Congresswoman Risa Hontiveros said she was 'revolted' by a sketch in which Enfield's character said he was trying to get Whitehouse to 'mate' with his Filipina maid.

'He kept ordering the girl to gyrate and dance in front of Paul,' before ordering the woman to have sex with him, Hontiveros was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying.

She called it 'racist, humiliating and disgusting.'

Millions of Filipinos go abroad to work and the money they send back home is an essential part of the country's economy.

American televsion network ABC apologised last year for an episode of 'Desperate Housewives' which questioned the competence of Filipino doctors.