A Philippine edition of Playboy will debut on newsstands next week, but the traditionally racy magazine will not show frontal nudity, the editor-in-chief said on Thursday.
Beting Laygo Dolor said the monthly magazine will feature "anything under the sun of interest to men," combining the work of investigative journalists and award-winning fiction writers.
Dolor said he believed the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines would be more tolerant toward Playboy than neighboring Indonesia, where the magazine was met with violent opposition from Islamic groups.
US editions of the magazine are already available in Manila and other major Philippine cities.
"I don't think the Christian community here, after seeing it, will be any angrier than [they are] say [toward] FHM or Maxim," he said, referring to two other international men's magazines that have released local editions in the Philippines. "I think a lot of the church people, especially the more liberal ones, will appreciate what we are trying to do in terms of quality and content."
Dolor said Playboy Philippines would feature Filipino women as ``playmates'' in the centerfold, but won't show full frontal nudity or genitalia because that would run counter to Philippine business and cultural considerations.
"Maybe one nipple," he said.
"If you have something like full frontal nudity, the chances are you will make a lot of enemies in the church, NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], even in the government," he said. "We don't want to risk our copies being burned."
He added that local advertisers might not pay for space in such magazines.
"It's not necessary to go all out like that. We're not engaged in any race with any magazine in being ribald," he said.
Last year, the editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia faced charges of violating indecency laws in the world's most populous Muslim nation, but he was acquitted.
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