Filipino community in Ottawa mourns victims of Vancouver festival attack

Filipinos in Ottawa are mourning and reflecting to try to make sense of the tragic attack at a community street festival in Vancouver Saturday evening.

Eleven people have been confirmed dead and dozens were injured after a man drove an SUV into a crowd where thousands were celebrating at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival.

Officials have called it the “darkest day” in Vancouver’s history. A suspect, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has been charged with multiple counts of murder in the attack.

The tight-knit community in Ottawa, home to tens of thousands of Filipinos, are mourning the victims and searching for answers.

Nora Arriola, who serves as the chairperson of the Philippine Independence Committee of the Ottawa Valley (PICOV), is deeply involved in the local Filipino community and says her daughter and young family live in Vancouver.

“I was so nervous this morning when I woke up because of my daughter and our family live in Vancouver and at that time, I couldn’t even call them because of the time difference,” said Arriola.

“I was relieved that they weren’t able to go to the Lapu-Lapu Festival, but they’re aware of it. One of their neighbors was there and witnessed the whole incident happening and now she said they are so traumatized that they’re helping that family. It’s so sad.”

Arriola says after hearing her daughter was safe, they were both emotional, sharing tears. She says she can feel the community leaning on one another.

“These are our brothers and sisters in hearts and minds, and we just couldn’t fathom why this would happen to a community such as ours or even to any community at all,” Arriola said.

Dan Gambito says he saw the news on social media when a friend of his posted a heart to another person’s profile, realizing they knew one of the people killed.

“Very shocked because my friend goes to big events such as this and she actually just performed with her. This is what we do, this is what Filipinos do. We love to celebrate together and really share the happiness,” Gambito said.

“We’re grieving and it’s just really heartbreaking for everyone.”

As the Filipino community is trying to grasp the tragedy, Ottawa is getting ready to plan its own street celebrations.

Fil Caballes, a Filipino event organizer, says they have gatherings planned for Philippines Heritage Month in June. The attack has now raised a lot of concerns.

“I think we just have to plan security. Being very careful and to look out for the possibilities for the participants,” Caballes said.

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Caballes says he has friends who went to the festival and is heartbroken for the community.

“I think it gives a lesson for everybody to be aware. We can’t imagine what it’s like for the people there right now,” Cabelles said.