Consul General Elmer G. Cato
CLARK FREEPORT – The continuing rise in hate crimes and incidents against Asians in the USA has prompted Philippine consulates to take action.
At the Philippine Consulate General in New York, newly designated Consul General Elmer G. Cato told the Capampangan in Media on Thursday that the consulate is actively campaigning against it.
Cato was guest of the regular Balitaan media forum organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. via Zoom on Thursday.
Cato said in 2019, there was only one recorded case of hate crime incident in New York but for the whole 12 months of 2020, there were 29 cases reported.
Now just for the first quarter of 2021, there were already 39 cases recorded with two high profile cases which were reported by major television channels.
One involving Noel Quintana, 61, in February when his face was slashed by a man with a box cutter while he was on his way to work on a subway in Manhattan.
Another was Vilma Kari, 65, who was attacked on a New York City sidewalk last month. The brutal attack was captured on CCTV which prompted the consulate to urged Filipinos to be more cautious.
The suspect, who was out on parole for killing his mother, was seen on CCTV attacking Kari without any provocation.
Cato said both incidents happened in Manhattan and the victims are of Filipino descent but are now US citizens. Their attackers have been arrested and undergoing court trial.
As of May 2, 80 anti-Asian hate crime incidents have been reported to the consulate.
Cato said Filipinos are not specifically targeted but may be mistaken for Chinese since the latter are being blamed for the breakout of the pandemic.
Cato also said Filipinos used to be ranked number four in hate crimes against Asians– first the Chinese, second Koreans and third are the Vietnamese.
“Now Filipinos are number three,” he said.
Cato said Philippine consulates in the US — San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, and Agana have taken steps to stem the rising hate crimes to the extent of teaching Pinoys self defense or martial arts techniques and more active police coordination as he called on US Pinoys to be more vigilant and immediately report hate crime incidents to the police or call 911.
Cato said he has also become aware of a number of unreported hate crimes and incidents like a case which he learned from his doctor where a 70-year-old Pinay landed in the ICU after being mauled. The incident was not reported to the consulate, Cato said.
He also said there is a Filipina nurse who was verbally abused in Queens.
We need to be careful and more vigilant, Cato said.
But Cato lamented that undocumented Filipinos in the US deliberately refuse to report hate crime incidents to the consulate for fear of being reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
Cato assured undocumented Filipinos that the Philippine Consulate General in New York is mandated to help them and not report them. “Many are still doubtful. But we are here to help them, he assured.
Cato said he is now actively engaged with Filipinos as well as community organizations working on this problem. “Our efforts are continuing,” he said.
