By CARLO ANOLIN
Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has joined the #StopAsianHate movement amid the recent violence overseas, particularly in the United States, towards Asian people.
Pacquiao took to social media his sentiments in light of the increasing hate attacks in the US, posting four different versions of posters that read: Stop attacking Asians who can’t defend themselves! Fight me instead.
Its Filipino counterpart says: Ako labanan mo. Duwag! (Fight me. Coward!)
“We have one color in our Blood! Stop discriminating. LOVE AND PEACE TO EVERYONE!! #StopAsianHate” wrote the 42-year-old Pacquiao in his caption.
Just recently, a Filipino-American identified as Jessica Dimalanta, 19, was left “permanently impaired” after being shot through her right eye in California.
Dimalanta was reportedly attending a car stunt show with her friends in San Francisco when a group of men, who eventually fled from the scene, opened fire at the vehicle they were in. One of her friends was reportedly hit while three others were reportedly in a safe condition.
While authorities have yet to confirm if it was indeed a hate crime, Dimalanta’s family claimed that she was victimized for being an Asian.
Adding fuel to the fire, the 19-year-old Fil-Am had tested positive for COVID-19 while in the hospital.
Last March, a certain Robert Aaron Long, 21, was charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault for sparking the infamous Atlanta shooting that killed eight people including six Asian women.
