Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violence and mass casualty. Please take care when reading. Victim Services are available 24/7 for those who witnessed or experienced trauma. Call or text 1-800-563-0808 or email 211-victimlinkbc@uwbc.ca. 310 Mental Health Line at 310-6789. Crisis Line at 1-800-784-2433.
If you are fortunate enough to be in a town or city in the Philippines when it celebrates the feast day of its patron saint, or what Filipinos call a fiesta, you will witness some of the most extravagant and colourful customs and traditions in Philippine culture. House after house is open to even the most casual visitors, the tables inside groaning under platters of special yellow sticky rice (valenciana), roast suckling pig (lechon), noodles (pancit) and even macaroni salad with pineapple—dishes reflective of the Philippines’s history as a colony of Spain and the United States, and a favourite port for Chinese traders then and now.
Men are splayed out at one corner chugging back cold San Miguel beer or Tanduay rum. Streets are filled with the pounding sounds of karaoke, with families gathered around a microphone belting out their favourite tunes. Stages large and small appear overnight at various street corners, where the young gyrate to the latest beats and the old display unerring skill dancing the cha cha and tango.
It was this fiesta atmosphere that the Filipino community of Vancouver transported to Fraser Street and East 43rd Avenue on Saturday April 26, 2025. The community was commemorating the life of Lapu Lapu, a chieftain who had defended the Philippines against Magellan and his sailors, who claimed the Philippines for Spain. On this sunny Saturday at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival, Filipinos and their friends from other communities set up booths and stalls and tables displaying items for sale, information on programs and services, and—of course—food. Filipino pork barbecue sizzled on grills, their scent mingling with the smell of roasting corn and juicy hot dogs. Visitors from the Hispanic community would have marvelled at the Spanish-sounding items on food cart menus, like caldereta and menudo. Those from other Asian countries would have smiled at the familiar pork buns (sio pao) and trays of noodles. Everyone would have admired the colourful tower of ice shavings, ice cream, cornflakes, beans and other sweets that is halo halo. And there was singing and dancing.
The fun, the laughter, the food, the camaraderie lasted a whole day. And then in an instant, shortly after 8 pm, there was the rumble of a car that would not stop, hitting body after body, turning the festive scene into one of unimaginable devastation.
Daniel Samper, Glitza Maria Caicedo, and Daniela Samper, were a father, mother and daughter from Colombia who lost their lives. A friend of Daniela’s fiancé, Jendhel May Sico of the Philippines, was also killed. Jendhel’s partner Blaine Redlac remains in hospital. Daniela’s brother Alejandro was not at the festival and is grieving the loss of his entire immediate family. Daniela’s fiancé Jordan Mazzotti survived.
Richard Le and Linh Hoang, originally from Vietnam, were killed with their 5-year old daughter Katie, leaving behind Katie’s brother, 16-year old Andy, and Richard’s brother Toan Le. Jen Darbellay, an artist, was with her husband Noel and 7-year old daughter Darby at the festival. Noel and Darby were injured, Jen died. She also leaves a 15-year old son, Ford. Also killed were Kira Salim, originally from Brazil and a teacher-counsellor at Fraser River Middle School and New Westminster Secondary School and Maria Victoria (Vicky) Bjarnason, who had celebrated her birthday on April 15 and had a ticket to return to the Philippines on April 29. She had come to visit two sons in Vancouver, one of whom, Helgi, was injured. Rizza Pagkanlungan from the Philippines left behind her husband Rome and extended family in Vancouver.
That we have lost not just members of the Filipino community but also friends and visitors from the community at large shows how inclusive Lapu Lapu Day was, how welcoming, and how safe people felt there—so safe that they brought children along and elders too.
Filipinos are no stranger to calamity. Year after year our islands are battered by typhoons of such force that they leave death and destruction in their wake. All Filipinos have experienced living in a fragile economy and a social system that favours the rich and makes it difficult to get ahead. We also found little to trust in the criminal justice system that was meant to protect us. Canada was and is, for many, a haven, a reprieve from all of that uncertainty and inequity.
For a long time, we have reveled in the safety and security our adopted country has afforded us. That sense of safety has been shaken, and we are suddenly anxiously looking behind our backs, more alert now to dangers we never thought would impact or target us.
In time we will recover, just as our ancestors have weathered all the forces that have been stacked against us as a people. We will recover by coming together, comforting each other, and yes, praying, as our ancestors have done. But we will also look to the leaders of our adopted country to ask that they establish systems and procedures that address the violence that we saw and support communities like ours, so that our faith in Canada and all our neighbours in this great country, while shaken, will not be dimmed. And we will continue to welcome everyone into our homes and our hearts. Because that is who we are and what we do.
Marilynn (Meyen) Quigley is a regular contributor to Here Magazine. She writes about her experiences as an immigrant to Canada, and the festivals and milestones of her Filipino community in Victoria. She hopes the Lapu Lapu Day massacre would raise an awareness in the community of the contributions that immigrants make to the Canadian cultural fabric, as well as the vulnerabilities that they experience. Mainly she hopes that Canadians appreciate and look out for each other even more.