The Philippine Embassy in the United States said there were several Filipinos among the pool of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol in Washington D.C. to protest Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.
“Ang balita namin, may mga iba na Trump supporters. Nakita namin na galing sa ibang state dito sa America (From the reports that we received, there were Trump supporters . They came from different states in America),” Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez told GMA 7’s Unang Balita.
Romualdez, however, said they are not yet sure as to how many Filipinos joined the protest.
Meanwhile, the operations of the Philippine embassy and chancery were not affected by the pro-Trump protest at the Capitol, according to Romualdez.
“Yung Capitol medyo malayo sa ating embassy dito at sa chancery (The Capitol is quite far from our embassy and chancery),” he said.
“Ang ginawa namin, binoard up din namin kasi siyempre we’re trying to see baka mag spillover dito sa may Massachusetts Avenue kung nasaan ang ating embassy at chancery (We boarded up the offices just in case the protest spills over here in Massachusetts Avenue where our embassy and chancery are located),” he added.
The Capitol in Washington was mobbed by Trump supporters Wednesday (Thursday, Philippine time) to protest their presidential bet’s defeat.
The violent protest led to the death of one woman who was reportedly shot inside the Capitol.
Meanwhile, the US Senate resumed the process of certifying Biden's presidential election victory late Wednesday (Thursday, Philippine time). (With a report from Agence France-Presse)