39 cases of hate crime vs. Pinoys reported in US —DFA exec

By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News Some 39 incidents of hate crime targeting Filipinos have been reported in the United States, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday. At a press conference, DFA Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Paul Raymund Cortes said Philippine authorities are "very careful" in determining hate crimes from regular assaults. “Sa pakikipagpulong namin [Based on our meeting] with the Philippine Consulate General Consulate in New York, there are about 38 or 39 documented cases,” he said. Cortes did not mention the time period when these incidents occurred, but assaults on Filipinos have been recently reported in the US, among them the 67-year-old Filipino woman who was hit over 100 times in New York. According to him, an incident can only be considered as hate crime when the attacker mentioned the country or race of the victim during the confrontation. "Very careful ang konsulado at ang gobyerno to determine na itong mga krimen na ito ay hindi lang harassment kundi hate crime dahil tina-target yung pagka-Pilipino nila," Cortes said. (The consulate and our government is very careful in determining if an incident is more than just harassment but a hate crime.) Personnel from the Philippine Consulate have to report the incident to the local police as part of the process in documenting incidents as hate crimes, Cortes said. He also said Philippine authorities are conducting webinars on self-defense for Filipinos to teach them to protect themselves from assault and to raise awareness on the matter among Asian-American communities. The Philippine Consulate General Consulate in New York also provides pepper sprays to Filipinos which they can use in case of an attack. "Kung may kababayan tayo na nakaranas ng ganito [For victims], all they have to do is not just approach the consulate but may mga local authorities po. Go to your local police. Malaki ho ang system ng Amerika pagdating sa [America has a system in] helping not only Asians but other nationalities as far as hate crimes are concerned," Cortes said. —KBK, GMA News

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