Pinoys among pro-Trump protesters who stormed US Capitol, says envoy

GMA News – Published January 7, 2021 8:00am

A number of Filipinos were among the hundreds of protesters who stormed US Capitol on Wednesday (US time) seeking to force Congress to undo President Donald Trump’s election loss, according to Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

Interviewed on Unang Balita, Romualez said these Filipino Trump supporters came from different states in the United States.

“Ang balita namin merong mga iba na Trump supporters and nakita namin galing din sa ibang states dito sa Amerika, pero hind namin sigurado kung ilan sila,” the ambassador said when asked if there were Filipinos among the protesters.

Video showed protesters breaking windows and police deploying teargas inside the US Capitol. Local media reported that one person had been shot and video showed a person being wheeled from the building on a stretcher.

Despite the violence, Romualdez said embassy operations were not affected as it is relatively far from the site of the protest. Nevertheless, extra precautions were taken, he said.

“Ang ginawa namin, ibinoard up din namin [yung embassy], siyempre we’re trying to see kung mag-spillover sa may Massachusetts Avenue kung nasaan yung ating embassy at chancery,” he said.

Romualdez added that so far, the situation is “under control” by US security forces.

The chaos erupted after some of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress launched a last-ditch effort to throw out the results of the November 2020 elections.

Election officials of both parties and independent observers have said there was no significant fraud in the Nov. 3 contest, which President-elect Joe Biden won by more than 7 million votes in the national popular vote. –KBK, GMA News

SOURCE: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/pinoyabroad/news/770767/pinoys-among-pro-trump-protesters-who-stormed-us-capitol-says-envoy/story/?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook