Sask. vigils show support and mourn victims of Vancouver Filipino festival tragedy

A large group gathered on the steps of the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Regina to mourn Saturday's tragedy in Vancouver and show support for those affected.

On Saturday evening, a driver crashed a vehicle into a crowd at Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu Filipino Festival, killing 11 people and injuring many others.

A 30-year-old Vancouver man has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder.

Local Filipino associations organized candlelight vigils in Regina and Saskatoon on Wednesday night.

Alvin Pulga emceed the Regina vigil and said the community is still in shock.

"Seeing the terror and, and sadness that they're going through, it made this event and this ceremony just more important," Pulga said.

A tragedy like this puts everything else into perspective, he said.

"The things that we think are so serious in our day-to-day lives, it kind of just muted that until tonight, because this just felt more important."

The horrific event hit close to home, as some of the victims have relatives and friends in Saskatchewan.

"We weren't surprised that some of the victims' families were here in Regina," Pulga said. "That was really one of the reasons why we did this, to reach families and and people that were affected by this."

Pepito Escanlar, the Philippine honorary consul for Saskatchewan, said Filipinos are connected across the country.

"As a Filipino community we feel like we're part of that whole," Escanlar said. "When one party is hurt, we all feel it."

Escanlar was grateful to see communities across the country show their support.

"[They] came and grieved with us and joined us in dealing with the sorrow and the grief of this event," he said. "We encourage our Filipino community to be strong and carry on with our celebration, and just be vigilant and make sure that this thing doesn't happen again."

Pulga said it wasn't just the Filipino community that was grieving, it was the whole country.

The vigil reminded Pulga of what is important and what we should be grateful for.

"When we discovered this tragedy, [my mom] messaged us and she told us, hug your children, don't make mountains of molehills and love each other," he said.

"That's what we want people to understand about this event. Just love each other."