VANCOUVER — It was to be a day of reflection and remembrance a year after the Lapu Lapu tragedy where 11 people were killed and dozens more were hurt in a vehicle ramming in Vancouver, instead it revealed the divisions within the community.
Protesters leaned on a safety fence that surrounded the Italian Cultural Centre on Sunday, booing at attendees, and waving placards that read, too soon and we are the victims.
Among the protesters were victims themselves, family members of the dead, former festival volunteers and Mable Elmore, the member of the legislature for Vancouver-Kensington.
Alejandro Samper attended the protest dressed in black and carrying a family photo.
Samper’s mother, father and sister were killed in the attack and he said he’s experienced “pain and suffering” every day but said he wanted to deliver a message to Filipino BC, the group that organized last year’s festival and Sunday’s event.
“Practice what you preach if you’re saying you’re gonna help the victims, truly help them, show us transparency, accountability, and respect for us victims,” said Samper.
Several of the protesters say fundraising by the group didn’t go to help those most in need, but RJ Aquino of Filipino BC said the B.C. United Way has been ensuring that the “community, as a whole, had access to different ways of healing.”
There was tight security at the event with safety barriers set up around the site and police officers patrolling the area on Sunday.
Outside the fence, 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 to organize this year’s event, when it’s really trying to raise money.
Aquino said in an interview on Sunday that the event is a chance for reflection and to remember those killed and injured, and his group accounts for all funds being used.
It’s not 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, he said.
“I can’t imagine the grief and frustration that people who were directly, physically impacted would feel,” Aquino said.
He says his group wants to help and support people, and that the B.C. United Way has been an “amazing partner.”
“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.
Filipino BC and the 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.”
Protester Lailani Tumaneng, who also 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 she wasn’t blaming event organizers for giving money to healing circles, to support the community’s arts and music scene, which is OK, but both Filipino BC and United Way BC should have given some money to victims first.
“Because at that time, the victims’ families were in the ICU, busy taking care of their loved ones,“ said Tumaneng.
A report published by United Way BC said donors were also given the option to designate funds directly to Filipino BC, and it has raised $451,570 for the group, which would distribute those funds.
Samper said a few months after the attack, he received about $3,000 from Filipino BC, and was “grateful” at that time.
It was months later, Samper said, that he learned that Filipino BC had received the $450,000 through the United Way.
He pointed to one victim’s family who couldn’t pay for a wheelchair ramp to get the man outside their home after he was paralyzed in the attack.
“Well, how come this person didn’t receive the attention he needed?” asked Samper.
“I am in the works of digging up all the money I received from all the organizations, and I hope all the other victims also do the same so we can come up with some facts,” said Samper.
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.”
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.
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
