Edmonton’s Filipino community ‘devastated’ after Vancouver festival attack

Edmonton’s Filipino community is grieving after a fatal car-ramming attack on a street festival in Vancouver Saturday night.

Community members are telling CityNews they’re sharing the pain and loss with the Filipino community in Vancouver.

“Oh, that was horrific. It just people killed and injured, so for me, [it] directly struck our hearts,” said Lixmila Serrano, the owner of 3J Filipino Grocery.

Serrano says Vancouver’s deadly attack has left the community here shocked and heartbroken.

“There’s a solidarity among Filipinos that we are all one and for them to know that even if we’re distant away we are strongly connected and we are just near to each other.”

On Saturday night, a man plowed into a crowd of festival-goers in Vancouver, killing at least 11. Nearly 100,000 people were in attendance at the Lapu Lapu festival, which holds significance for the Filipino community across the country.

“Everywhere I go, people they know I’m Filipino, they say I’m sorry,” Serrano explained.

The president of the Alberta Philippine Heritage and Festival Society, Harlijk Mirasol, told CityNews Filipino leaders in Edmonton are planning a meeting on Tuesday to determine how to best support the Filipino community in Vancouver.

“It’s all about making sure we have eachother’s back you know. And when they’re ready, we’ll be here to help them recover from this tragedy, move on from this tragedy and welcome them and celebrate the families of the lives that were lost,” Mirasol explained.

“It’s a tragedy you know; I cried quite a few times in the past two days especially when hearing more stories and seeing more videos. But we want out friends in vancover to know that the whole filpino community is mourning with them.”

Mirasol says he hopes the Vancouver attack doesn’t stop people from attending events in the future.

“This tragedy is a one-off day. So, this should not prevent us from celebrating life, celebrating our community and being part of the Canadian experience.”

In the wake of this tragic event, an outpouring of support from around Edmonton. Alberta Premier said in a statement on social media that “What happened last night at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver is truly incomprehensible, adding “Albertans are heartbroken by this devastating loss of life and injuries reported…”