MANILA – Malacañang raised alarm on Thursday about the latest Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate report, which revealed that Filipinos were rated third among ethnicities in the United States (US) with the highest number of hate incidents.
“Nakakalungkot po iyan at nakaka-abala. Unang-una, halos lahat tayo, merong kamag-anak sa Amerika at ayaw nating maging biktima ang ating mga kababayan (That is saddening and alarming. First and foremost, most of us have relatives in America and we do not want our countrymen to be victims [of hate crimes],” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.
According to a report released by Stop AAPI Hate on August 12, a total of 9,081 Asians have been victims of hate crimes in the US.
Based on the survey, 9.1% of Filipinos in the US are Asian hate victims.
The data covers all anti-Asian hate incidents that occurred between March 19, 2020 and June 20, 2021, with the majority of them occurred outside of the home and in public locations such as public streets and shops.
It’s ironic, according to Roque, hate crimes against Asians are on the rise in the United States, which has been called the “land of immigrants”.
“‘Yung mga kababayan natin, ‘yung mga kamag-anak natin, nagpunta sa Amerika kasi alam natin (Our fellow countrymen and relatives went to Amerika because we know that) what drives America is the hopes and aspirations ng mga immigrant (of the immigrants),” he said.
Roque remained hopeful that the anti-Asian hate attacks would end.
“Parang kapag pag-iinitan mo ‘yung mga immigrant, pinag-iinitan mo ‘yung kumbaga kaluluwa ng America mismo as the land of immigrants so sana po matigil na ito (If you attack immigrants, you also attack the America’s soul as the land of immigrants so we hope this will stop),” he said.
At least two Filipinos have been harassed in separate incidents this month, prompting repeated calls for the Filipino community to be more cautious, particularly when using the subway.
On his way to his Upper West Side apartment on Aug. 7, Filipino stage actor Miguel Braganza was shot in the head by two individuals with a gun.
According to police, the attack on Braganza was a thwarted robbery attempt.
On Aug. 10, Filipino nurse Potri Ranka Manis was attacked while providing face masks to fellow subway passengers.
While Manis was being attacked, the two assailants were reportedly yelling racial obscenities.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the US, hate crimes and racism towards Asians have become prevalent.
Elmer Cato, the Philippine Consul General in New York, has urged the US government to take appropriate measures to prosecute those responsible for the violence against Asians.
