VANCOUVER - Rev. Francis Galvan was supposed to attend the Lapu Lapu Day street festival last Saturday, but he was grieving the death of Pope Francis and wasn’t in the mood for celebrating.
Galvan, the pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Delta, B.C., said he received a text later that evening — “something terrible had happened” at the Filipino cultural festival.
The next day, he went to the scene to leave candles for the 11 people killed when an SUV plowed through the festival crowd on a street lined with food trucks. He returned through the week to pray and offer comfort to other mourners.
“I saw this lady in front of that street where it happened. She said, ‘Father, bless me and help me or pray for me because I saw what happened.’ And I couldn’t even repeat what she said. It was just too painful.”
On Friday, Galvan was among those who streamed into Holy Rosary Cathedral in downtown Vancouver on British Columbia’s day of mourning for the victims.
“I ask myself, of all the communities, why us? Why us?” Galvan said outside the cathedral. “At the same time now I’m hearing from non-Filipinos how they are affected (by) what happened.”
The church was packed with mourners — many, like Galvan, from the Filipino community — along with dignitaries including Premier David Eby, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and interim Vancouver police Chief Steve Rai.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller called the festival attack “an unspeakable tragedy.”
”(It) leaves us grieving and deeply disturbed,” he told mourners, who he said also included relatives of those killed.
Miller said the day of mourning recognized that lives were bound together and that “we cannot face tragedy isolated, one from another.”
“We need a community of solidarity to support and help us as we walk through this valley of darkness,” he said.
Eby told relatives of victims he could not imagine “the depth of your grief.”
He said the province was mourning “an injury to the Filipino community that we know and love,” while also mourning “a loss of innocence” in discovering such a thing could take place in British Columbia, and in Vancouver.
“And we mourn a loss of potential, of those who were taken from us, the contributions they would have made to our province, to their families, to your lives, all our lives,” he said.
Eby said there were moments amid the tragedy that made him proud to be premier, including the actions of first responders and in particular the organizers of the festival.
“We will celebrate again because we must,” Eby added.
Sim said the city was united in sorrow, in love and remembrance.
The attack “shattered something in all of us,” the mayor said.
The suspect in the case, 30-year-old Adam Kai-Ji Lo, had appeared by video hours earlier in Vancouver provincial court, where a judge ordered a mental health assessment to make sure he was fit for trial.
Lo wore red prison fatigues and sat on a blue couch in a white-brick cell.
Judge Reg Harris set Lo’s next appearance for May 30 in Vancouver provincial court, estimating it would take between five and 10 minutes.Â
Friday’s application hearing and the case are subject to a broad publication ban that Harris said was “to protect the fairness of the trial process,” by avoiding potential “contamination” of the witness or jury pool.
The purpose of the ban was not to restrict public information, Harris said, but to “protect the process going forward.”
Harris said the assessment of Lo would occur in an “in-custody setting with mental health professionals.”
Lo mostly sat motionless with his arms at his sides during the hearing, but occasionally fidgeted and appeared to bite his nails as he waited for the hearing to begin, only speaking to acknowledge he could see and hear the proceedings.Â
Lo’s lawyer Mark Swartz, who also appeared by video link, did not respond to a request for comment.Â
Philippines Vice Consul Marco Harder with the Vancouver consulate attended but said he couldn’t comment on the hearing.
Harder said later that the consulate “has been working around the clock to establish contact with the victims and determine the appropriate assistance that can be provided to them.”
He said officials in Vancouver and their counterparts at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila are working to help victims and focus on “ensuring our nationals receive assistance and support, and that justice is administered and that justice is served.”
Eric Urmaza and Lovely Condez, both members of the Filipino community, were among those who attended the memorial mass on Friday.
“It’s so devastating seeing all those people who were hurt, who have passed away, who are grieving, and it just hits hard because it could have happened to any of us,” said Urmaza, who grew up in the neighbourhood where the attack took place.
“I’m still trying to process what has happened,” he said on the steps of the cathedral following the service.
Condez said it “hurts so much” knowing it was her community affected by the attack, along with people who aren’t Filipino but went to the festival to enjoy the culture.
“This is something that we’ll never forget,” she said. “It’s always going to be a mark in our lives.”
Urmaza said it was heartening to see people come together at the memorial mass, and it was comforting to know the Filipino community is not alone.Â
“Everyone has our backs and everyone is loving and caring together.”
Galvan said outside the cathedral that coming together in the “bayanihan” spirit was important in his Filipino culture.
Sharing feelings, food and prayer would help the community mourn and get through the most difficult of times, he said.
“Let’s never forget that we are in this together and through time we will find the strength again, because, for the Filipinos, we’ve been through storms and typhoons, earthquakes, whatever it was,” Galvan said.
“We will be there for each other, to support each other, and we will not only survive, we will thrive again.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation