Philippine Ambassador to the United States (US) Jose Manuel Romualdez assured that the embassy is closely monitoring the situation regarding the hate crimes committed against Asian-Americans due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a public briefing, Amb. Romualdez disclosed that a note verbale has been sent to the State Department and the US Senators on the matter. The Chairman of Justice Committee Senator Dick Durbin has immediately called a hearing wherein the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been called to explain the hate crime situation.
“Maganda naman ang mga sagot ng FBI dahil ginagawa nila lahat ng pwede nilang gawin na itigil na itong hate crimes. So marami silang agent na nag-spread out sa US lalo na sa California na marami tayong mga Filipino (The answers of the FBI were sound because they are doing their best to stop the hate crimes. So they have plenty of agents spread out all over the US especially in California where many Filipinos are living).”
It can be recalled that over 100 incidents of anti-Asian-American hate crimes were recorded in 2020 in 16 crowded areas all over the US. Report from Ryan Lesigues