VANCOUVER — 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.
There was tight security at the event on Sunday at the Italian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver with safety barriers set up, but dozens of protesters gathered on the other side of the barriers, carrying placards and holding photos of their loved ones who died.
Jenny De Guzman and Rodel Sico, the parents of Jendhel May Sico, 27, who was killed in the attack, said it was too soon to hold such an event, which only benefits the organizer, Filipino BC.
Sico said it was hard for him to see this year’s event going ahead, especially because the group didn’t ask the families of those killed and injured.
He said he felt this year’s event was only beneficial to the event organizer.
De Guzman said she tried to ask Filipino BC for some financial support, but only received an $800 gift card.
“They haven’t responded to my email,” said De Guzman. “They don’t even help anymore.”
Sandra Gumbo was a volunteer for last year’s celebration, but was also on the outside Sunday, and said it was “hypocritical” to see Filipino BC trying to use togetherness and healing as excuses to organize this year’s event, when it’s trying to raise money.
RJ Aquino, the head of Filipino BC, said Sunday that the event is a chance for reflection on those killed and injured, and his group accounts for all funds being used that is dispersed to them through the United Way.
Aquino said 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.
“I can’t imagine the grief and frustration that people who were directly, physically impacted would feel,” he said.
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.
“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.
“So, I just want to make sure that people don’t feel like they can’t talk to us.”
Filipino BC and the British Columbia United Way launched the Kapwa Strong Fund last year to support victims and their families, which the United Way said on its website has raised about $1.5 million to provide counselling, mental health and basic needs support for victims and their families.
A report on its website said grants from the fund have been awarded to three dozen organizations, including the Alliance Philippines Cultural Heritage Association and B.C.’s bereavement helpline.
Aquino said the funds are allocated “to ensure that the help goes to where it needs to go.”
He said the United Way has been ensuring that the “community as a whole had access to different ways of healing.”
Protester Lailani Tumaneng, who volunteered at Lapu Lapu last year’s event, said she came out to join the rally because she knows of no families who received support.
Tumaneng said many victims’ families don’t have the energy or time to keep calling case managers for financial support or filling in documents to apply for the donations.
Aquino said the local, provincial and federal governments along with the public auto insurer, the Insurance Corporation of B.C., should be stepping up to help these people.
“It’s hard to navigate ICBC on a good day, let alone for something like, as complex as this, and as tragic as this,” he said in an interview on Sunday.
He said expecting Filipino BC to provide these bigger long-term supports is misleading because governments don’t have a plan to support people in such mass-casualty events.
Aquino told a small crowd at the start of the event on Sunday that they hold respect and deep gratitude for everyone who has chosen to attend.
“We will never forget what happened and today is not about forgetting or rushing forward.”
Aquino said in the later interview that 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.
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.
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.
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.
It called for a provincial events hub for sharing information and advice on protecting the public during celebrations and other events.
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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2026.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press
