Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in New York Elmer G Cato. (Photo from his Twitter account)
MANILA, Philippines — Keep a low profile and avoid dimly-lit streets.
These are just some of the advice that Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in New York Elmer Cato on Tuesday gave to Filipinos amid continuing Asian hate incidents in New York.
“‘Pag alis sa bahay, ‘pag nasa subway for instance, dapat mapagmatiyag sila. You keep a low profile, alert tayo,” Cato said in an interview over Teleradyo.
(When leaving their homes, when in the subway, for instance, they should be vigilant. You keep a low profile and be alert.)
The envoy also cited the teachings of experts in the self-defense workshops that they conducted for Filipinos.
“Kung tantsa niyong there’s possible danger like ‘yun nga sa mga subways dapat medyo mag-lie low kayo. Kapag lumalabas kayo sa bahay, ‘wag kayo dumaan sa madidilim na kalsada. And kung naglalakad kayo, may masalubong kayong tao na medyo kakaiba ‘yung behavior, iwasan na,” Cato enumerated.
(If you see a possible danger, like in subways, you should lie low. When you leave your house, don’t walk in lowly-lit roads. When you walk and see someone acting strange, you avoid them.)
As some Filipinos refuse to report being involved in these incidents, Cato appealed to inform the consulate to assess the situation.
“Ang problema… hindi nagre-report ‘yung iba nating mga kababayan and ‘yung konsulado nga parang sirang plaka na kami na, please tell us para ma-assess natin ‘yung situation and ma-share natin ‘yung information sa ating mga kababayan,” Cato raised.
(The problem… some Filipinos do not report and the consulate’s like a broken record, please tell us so we can assess the situation and share the information to our fellow Filipinos.)
Based on a recent report of the Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate, they have received 9,081 incident reports from March 2020 to June 2021.
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