Islanders come together to mourn lives lost at Filipino festival in Vancouver

More than 100 Islanders including members of the P.E.I. Filipino community attended a Mass at St. Dunstan's Basilica in downtown Charlottetown Wednesday evening to pray for and honour the 11 people killed at a Vancouver festival over the weekend. 

They died when an SUV crashed into the crowd Saturday night as Lapu-Lapu Day Festival events wrapped up and kiosks were being taken down.  

"I really feel sorry about the people — those who died, that got injured, and most of all for those who survived, because they're the ones that will be keeping this in their heart and their mind," says Raymundo Yu.

He's been a member of the Filipino community on P.E.I. for over three decades and helped organize the event.

A five-year-old girl and a 65-year-old were among those killed during the incident in Vancouver.

"There's two families that had a father, mother and child that were there, and you know, died. That generation is gone," Yu said. 

The community has a lot of support in P.E.I., Yu said. The choir at the basilica leapt into action at short notice and everyone was on board to organize an evening of mourning in conjunction with vigils held across Canada the same night.

"It's really important because people who experience this, people whose families were killed, they need someone to hold them strong by doing this, by praying for them, to remind them there is still a God that will help us," Yu said. 

'Our heart is broke'

Billy Bautista is the president of the Filipino Association of Prince Edward Island. He learned of Saturday night's attack over social media.

"It really feels bad and really devastating. Our heart is broke. We don't have any relatives there but they are our countrymen, fellow Filipinos. We care for them, they care for us," Bautista said.

The greater Filipino community on P.E.I. is feeling the same way, he said.

A 30-year-old Vancouver man, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder. After the incident, police said Lo had a history of interactions with officers and health-care professionals related to mental health.

Bautista says if an SUV can ram into a street festival in Vancouver, it could happen elsewhere in the country too.

"People, we don't know what's on their mind now," he said.

Yu knows the community is hurting, but at times like his, he said he likes to think of a plant called a bumble that grows in the Philippines.

"It's really flexible. In strong wind, it will bend down to the ground. Then after that, it will rise up. So I think Filipinos are strong. In spite of difficulties, they will rise up."