Philipinos say Da Vinci Code is Porn

Comparing the author of the best-selling "The Da Vinci Code" to Adolf Hitler, an anti-pornography group yesterday asked President Arroyo to ban the showing of the film version of Dan Brown’s controversial novel. Declaring that allowing "the most pornographic and blasphemous film in history" to be shown would "break" the Christian faith around the world, the Philippine Alliance Against Pornography Inc. (PAAP) said the President should order the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Customs to confiscate and destroy master copies of the film, which stars Tom Hanks. In a statement, PAAP spokesman Aldo Filomeno said copies of Brown’s books available in bookstores and related establishments should also be destroyed. Finally, the group wants Brown to be declared persona non grata in the country. The PAAP also appealed to Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and other religious groups to help in stopping the showing of the controversial film. The "Da Vinci Code," a work of fiction, claims that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and even had children with her, including the Merovingian kings of France, Filomeno noted. The novel claims that the fabled Holy Grail was actually Magdalene, not the chalice used in the Last Supper, and that Magdalene’s womb served as the "chalice" from which the royal blood of Jesus flowed forth in posterity. Because of these claims, Filomeno said the book’s film version is considered unconstitutional, illegal and immoral.Filomeno said showing "Da Vinci Code," which is scheduled for worldwide release during the first week of May, would be in gross violation of Presidential Decree 1986 and Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code.