Asian hate

NEW YORK – Hate crimes are appalling as they are heartbreaking but especially Asian hate crimes because Filipinos are among the victims. The stories and videos that made it to our timelines since the problem erupted during the pandemic showed so many random hateful acts against Asians.

You would see people in train stations suddenly attacked or old people getting hit out of nowhere by non-Asians.

In 2021, CNN reported a horrific attack on a 65-year-old woman in this city.

“The woman of Filipino descent was punched and kicked in front of a New York City apartment complex in broad daylight by an attacker who allegedly made anti-Asian statements toward her,” according to the CNN report.

There were other stories in the same report – a 38-year-old Asian man was punched in the face near Penn Station also here in New York while a 54-year-old woman was hospitalized after being struck in the face by a metal object.

It’s difficult to imagine how it was like for Asians to live in the US at the time. There must have been so much fear and uncertainty just walking home from work or doing an errand as mundane as buying something from the grocery store.

More than three years after the pandemic, however, Asian hate crimes are no longer prevalent, at least in New York and nearby states, Philippine Consul General (New York) Senen Mangalile said during a recent press briefing here at the Philippine Center New York.

ConGen Senen said “hate crimes” in general still exist and are still a concern for Filipino-Americans in the 10 states that are under the jurisdiction of the consulate.

“Actually, I would always say, there are no Asian hate crimes (anymore) here in New York, just hate crimes,” he told visiting Filipino journalists who are part of the United States’ Friends, Partners, Allies program.

But ConGen Mangalile was quick to add that he is only speaking about the jurisdiction of the Philippine consulate in New York, which covers the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

There are roughly 400,000 members of the Fil-Am community in the ten states covered by the consulate and they are among