Grief and rage among Vancouver’s Philippines after attacking a festival

Vancouver’s Lapu Festival designed to be a holiday of the Philippine pride ended with howls of sirens and screams On Saturday.

Eleven people – the youngest only five – died and many others were hospitalized after a man ran a SUV through the crowd.

“Many of us are still numb. Many of us are still angry, confused, sad, devastated – and some of us do not know how to feel, what to feel,” says RJ Aquino, chairman of the Philippine BC, the organization he placed at the festival.

He spoke of a vigil, attended by hundreds of people from the bottom of the continent on Sunday night.

“Honestly, I’m the kind of everything right now,” he adds.

Those who were on the website of the festival all day remained with intense sense of shock, sorrow and rage after the attack.

Roger Peralta and Björn Villarreal, friends who both arrived in Canada in 2016, spent the evening listening to the music and ate the food of their homeland.

“Suddenly I hear this unimaginable noise,” Bjorn recalls.

“It was a strong blow,” Roger says.

Both men describe the vision of bodies bouncing from all -terrain vehicles just meters away.

“I didn’t run,” Bjorn continues. “I actually followed the vehicle because I had the feeling that I could stop it.

“It was terrible. Many people (were) just lay on the street and cried and asked for help.”

Almost a day later, Roger is still in shock and cannot sleep until the scene is overplayed into his mind. He says it turns out that he has to stop and cry.

But he also speaks of a strong Philippine spirit, which he believes will lift the community.

“In our culture Bayanihan,” he explains, which translates as a spirit of unity and cooperation among the Filipinos.

“When you meet another Philippine, even if you don’t know them, you greet them, you feel that they are a family, even if you are not.”

British Colombia Prime Minister David Eby also paid tribute to the Philippine community in Canada, saying he did not “think there was a British Colombian who was not touched in any way by the Philippine community.”

“You can’t go to a place that provides care in our province and not meet a member of this community,” he said.

“Our long -term care homes, our hospitals, children, school care. This is a community it gives and gives.”

Bjorn, who works in hospital as a technologist with magnetic resonance, agrees.

“We are very caring people,” he says.

Both he and Roger were furious that the all -terrain vehicle came into the crowd first. They said they felt misled by Canada.

Prime Minister Eby said he was feeling this rage.

“But I want to turn the rage I feel to ensure that we are standing with the Philippine community,” he said as he stood in front of a police cruiser, blocking access to the crime scene.

“This event does not determine us either the Philippine community or this holiday.”