Filipinos who experienced hate crimes in the United States are still living in fear.
Stage actor Miguel Braganza is just one of the many Filipinos victimized by hate crimes in the US.
In August last year, he was assaulted and hit by a gun on the head while on his way to his apartment in the Upper West Side.
"I was so frustrated. I was so upset. What was taken from me was the freedom of moving around," Braganza said in an interview with GMA News.
Potri Ranka Manis, a nurse, also sustained bruises on her face and body after she was violently assaulted by two individuals while distributing masks to subway passengers also in August last year.
“Tiniis ko ang kaniyang panununtok akala ko ilang beses lang (I endured his punch thinking that it would only take a few times). It went like more than 20 times,” she recalled.
“Grabe po ang trauma ko, kung magsakay ako ng subway kailangan marami akong kasama. In fact, nagiging ano na ako, paranoid (My trauma is so bad, if I ride the subway I have to be with a lot of people. In fact, I'm becoming paranoid),” she told GMA.
The Philippine Consulate has been consistent in reminding Filipino communities in New York to always be vigilant when outside their residences, especially during the night, amid the rising incidents of anti-Asian hate and violence in the city.