Battered elderly Filipina in New York set to leave hospital, suspect charged

The elderly Filipino woman who was mauled by a 42-year-old suspect in what many believe is a hate crime in New York is already in stable condition.

According to JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras", the 67-year-old who was hit more than 100 times as she was entering her apartment in Yonkers may already be discharged from the hospital.

“We were informed that her mother is in stable condition and could be discharged anytime," Consul General Elmer Cato told GMA News.

"Kasi Friday pa siya nahospitalized as the result of the injuries she sustained that included the bleeding and facial and head fractures,” he added.

The elderly victim has suffered fractures and wounds on the head and face from at least 125 punches and seven strong kicks from the suspect identified as Tammel Esco.

He has been charged with attempted murder and assault as a hate crime.

Several officials of the Asian American Democratic Committee, lawmakers, and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano condemned the attack incident, which was an alleged hate crime.

New York authorities, however, assured the Filipino and Asian communities that they would help them if they reported these incidents.

The Philippine Consulate General in New York said most of the individuals who attacked Asian community in New York have previous cases of assault and have mental illness.

“Yung isang common na ano siguro pattern dyan is that many of the cases involved are homeless people,” Cato said.

(One common pattern there is that many of the cases involved are homeless people.)

The consulate also reminded the Filipino communities to remain vigilant, refrain from passing in dark places and going near rail tracks in the subway, as there were some cases where they pushed the victim on the rail tracks.

A self defense training with several Filipino-American self defense experts will be held on Monday to teach basic and practical tips of self defense. —Richa Noriega/NB, GMA News