A 67-year old Filipina in New York was punched and kicked by her assailant more than a hundred times last Friday, the third such violent incident in just one week, according to Consul General to New York Elmer Cato.
“We are outraged by this unspeakable act committed against another elderly member of the Filipino community. This is the third incident in less than a week where elderly kababayan have become victims of random violence,” he said.
Cato called on New York authorities to do more to protect the vulnerable even as he reminded Filipinos in the city to be extra vigilant and to take the necessary precautions, especially in public.
The first racist attack targeting a Filipino took place last March 10 when an unidentified man pushed down the stairs a Filipina who was in her late 50s and has poor eyesight, at the 179th Street Station of the F Train in the neighborhood of Jamaica in Queens.
A 65-year-old Filipina also sustained injuries after she was pushed down by an unidentified man at the Long Island Rail Road train platform also in Jamaica on the same day.
In the latest case, the victim was attacked just outside her apartment and sustained fractures and lacerations in the head and face, and bleeding in the brain.
Cato said she is still recovering in the hospital.
Aside from the physical injuries, the victim was also at the receiving end of racial slurs from her attacker who had previous arrests and multiple convictions.
The suspect was arrested immediately after the attack and charged with attempted murder as a hate crime.
Last year, Cato also noted an increase in violent incidents against Filipinos in the city with a total of 23 cases, including that of 58-year-old Maria Luningning Ambrocio who was attacked near Times Square and later succumbed to injuries.
