Vehicle attack in Vancouver devastates a vibrant and growing Filipino community

Manila Bulletin

For Bennet Miemban-Ganata, owner of a popular Filipino restaurant in Vancouver, the arrival of spring means a season of fiestas, bringing both good business and celebrations of culture.  From Filipino Restaurant Month in April to Filipino Heritage Month in June, there would be colorful clothes, folk dances and traditional food like crispy lumpia, marinated and grilled pork belly, and beef stew. And of course, there would be togetherness for Vancouver's rapidly growing Filipino community.  All that made Saturday night's vehicle-ramming attack on a large crowd at a Filipino block party all the more devastating.  A black Audi SUV barreled down a closed, food-truck-lined street and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, which celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers in the 16th century.  Eleven people were killed, including a 5-year-old girl and her parents. Thirty-two people were hurt. Seven were in critical condition and three were in serious condition at hospitals on Monday, Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Steve Addison said.

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00:00This is the hug for many Filipinos.

00:07This is where they gather.

00:09This is their meeting places.

00:11This is where they spend time to be,

00:14you know, to feel that they're home away from home.

00:19This is practically our community.

00:25What happened was unimaginable, unbelievable.

00:30It's really unbelievable, really heartbreaking.

00:36To be honest, I just forced myself to stop today.

00:41But I really couldn't move because of what happened.

00:45Being there the whole day, seeing people, like celebrating, having fun.

00:53That's why it's really heartbreaking that after that certain happiness,

01:00after that overwhelming fun, that thing would happen.

01:07Filipinos are the third largest visible minority here and growing.

01:14In the last census, we reached almost 200,000 in the province.

01:21And as a result, Filipinos just being more visible in terms of, you know, being represented in all areas.

01:31There's a large contingent of, you know, healthcare workers, frontline workers.

01:36And Filipino BC plays a role in really advocating for improving and the betterment of lives of Filipinos.

01:43I just wanted to tell you that people are here.

01:45So, if we don't know what the problem is, we'll have to make sure we can fix it.

01:46So, we've got a certain note.

01:47So what hairstyles have you all, we're probably talking about.

01:48So, if we tell you about the relationship between a family member,

01:49you know, one of the thing that you're doing is,

01:50let's take a look at those three things,

01:52you know, one of the people who are going to take out to your own.

01:53And if we're going to talk about it.

01:54We've got a little bit of this.

01:55So, first, let's do this.

01:56It's a little bit of this.

01:57I'll be a little bit of this.

01:58We'll be a little bit of this,

01:59if we're asking about the,

02:02you know, how about this.

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