VANCOUVER \u2014 What was to be a day of reflection and remembrance a year after the Lapu Lapu tragedy where 11 people were killed in a vehicle ramming in Vancouver has instead revealed the divisions within the Filipino community.<\/p>\n
VANCOUVER \u2014 What was to be a day of reflection and remembrance a year after the Lapu Lapu tragedy where 11 people were killed in a vehicle ramming in Vancouver has instead revealed the divisions within the Filipino community. <\/p>\n
The event is being held at the Italian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver amid tight security and safety barriers set up, but dozens of protesters have gathered on the other side of the barriers, carrying placards and holding photos of their loved ones who died. <\/p>\n
Jenny De Guzman and Rodel Sico, the mother and father of Jendhel May Sico who was killed in the attack, say it is too soon to hold such an event, which only benefits the organizer, Filipino BC. <\/p>\n
Sandra Gumbo was a volunteer for last year\u2019s celebration, but was also on the outside Sunday, and says it’s \u201chypocritical\u201d to see Filipino BC trying to use togetherness and healing as excuses to organize this year\u2019s event, when it’s trying to raise money. <\/p>\n
RJ Aquino, the head of Filipino BC, says the event is a chance for reflection on those killed and injured, and his group accounts for all funding being used that is dispersed to them through the United Way. <\/p>\n
Aquino says the event isn’t about rushing forward and is not a festival, but is about showing up for each other in support and his group has tried to engage with as many people in the community as possible. <\/p>\n
“I can’t imagine the grief and frustration that people who were directly physically impacted would feel,” he says. <\/p>\n
He says his group wants to help and support people, and that the United Way has been an amazing partner in ensuring that the community has access to different ways of healing.<\/p>\n
“I encourage people to, you know, if they’re saying that they’re not getting help, or if they feel like they’re not getting help, engage with us in good faith,” he said. <\/p>\n
“So, I just want to make sure that people don’t feel like they can’t talk to us.”<\/p>\n
Aquino says he still finds it difficult to be in the area where the festival occurred last year and this year’s venue was very intentional as a space to make people feel safe again. <\/p>\n
Adam Kai-Ji Lo faces 11 charges of second-degree murder and 31 counts of attempted murder for the April 26, 2025, attack, although no date for his trial has been set. <\/p>\n
Vancouver police said last year shortly after the attack that the festival had been assessed as a low-risk event and there was no indication that it would be the target of such an attack. <\/p>\n
A report for the provincial government conducted by former B.C. Supreme Court chief justice Christopher Hinkson after the attack recommended that all public events in the province, regardless of size, should be supported by a risk assessment.<\/p>\n
It called for a provincial events hub for sharing information and advice on protecting the public during celebrations and other events. <\/p>\n
Lapu Lapu Day, celebrated each April 27, is named after a Filipino national hero whose forces defeated those of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 What was to be a day of reflection and remembrance a year after the Lapu Lapu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-615129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}