US taking ‘stringent steps’ to curb hate crimes vs Asian-Americans – Romualdez
MANILA, Philippines — The White House has been taking “stringent steps” to curb hate crimes against Asian Americans in the United States in response to frequent reports of such incidents — including the recent case of a 65-year-old Filipino-American woman who was kicked in the stomach and head.
INQUIRER.net learned this on Wednesday from Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.
According to Romualdez, the Philippine Embassy in the US, as did other countries, has already communicated its “deepest concern to the White House” about the attacks on Asian-Americans.
“White House taking stringent steps to curb hate crime,” Romualdez told INQUIRER.net.
Among the steps taken, he said, were setting up “special hotlines” and posting more law enforcers in public vehicles and in areas where a large number of Asian-Americans work and live.
In a video posted online by the New York City police, a man can be seen walking up to the 65-year-old woman and kicking her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. He then kicks her several times in the head before walking away.
New York and other US cities have seen an upsurge in crimes against people of Asian descent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with activists attributing the rise to the repeated reference of former President Donald Trump to COVID-19 as “the Chinese virus.”
