A Kapampangan businessman has decried racism that his wife and daughter suffered Thursday, July 24, while sightseeing in Barcelona, Spain.
Describing it as “deeply upsetting” in his FB post, Prudencio Garcia, president of Mekeni Food Corporation (MFC), bewailed the racist treatment against his wife and their 16-year old daughter at the Sagrada Familia, an iconic basilica and a recognized heritage site.
He narrated: “We were in a group of 23 tourists. At the entrance security, I was assigned to a different lane, while they were in another. After their bags passed through the x-ray machine, the female guard asked them,
“What nationality are you?” When they replied, “We’re Filipinos,” she said: “Open your bags. I don’t trust Filipinos.”
He said he came to know of the incident in the evening when his daughter hesitantly shared what she and her mother experienced over dinner.
“That sentence (by daughter), spoken with ease, carried a sting that lingered long after,” he wrote.
Garcia said he is trying to reach the UNESCO and Spanish cultural office but his email bounced back. This, he said, was at the hope that racism should not be experienced by anyone.
“This experience shouldn’t go unnoticed. The Sagrada Família should be a symbol of unity, not division. Of reverence, not racism. We travel to learn, to grow, and to connect, not to be judged for where we come from,” he added.
“I am trying to send a formal letter to UNESCO and Spanish cultural authorities, not out of anger, but in the hope that this will never happen again. Not to any Filipino, not to anyone.
“I believe stories like this deserve to be told, not to condemn, but to ensure they are never repeated.”
The Garcias are on a European trip as an early celebration of Prudencio’s retirement.
