Inatake ang isa pang matandang Pilipino sa Manhattan, ang pinakahuli sa sunod-sunod na karahasan at panliligalig na kinasasangkutan ng isang Filipino national sa New York.
Sinabi ng Philippine Consulate General na ang biktima ay naglalakad sa kahabaan ng Madison Avenue malapit sa East 52nd St. noong Miyerkules nang “siya ay sinuntok nang walang probokasyon ng ibang babae.”
Tumakas ang suspek.
“In view of this incident, the Consulate reminds members of the Filipino Community, as well as kababayan visiting New York to exercise the necessary precautions at all times while on the streets or in the subways,” ayon sa Consulate.
Hindi ito nagbigay ng mga detalye kung ang insidente ay isang kaso ng hate crime sa mga Asyano ngunit tiniyak ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) na ang isyu ay iniharap ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa mga opisyal ng US.
“The issue of Asian hate crime has been raised by the Philippine government with US officials. Recently, Philippine Consul General in New York Elmer Cato raised this issue with the concerned authorities in New York City, who gave the assurance that they are taking this matter very seriously and are taking steps to address it,” ayon kay DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza sa isang bukod na statement.
Sinabi ni Daza na ang pag-atake ng 74-anyos na Pilipino ay pang 43 na mga kaso ng “race-based violence, harassment, and other criminal incident involving Filipinos” na sinusubaybayan ng Konsulado.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.