November 16, 2025 — Days after the Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy, a powerful memorial began to take shape. Handwritten notes soon appeared on the fence; scrawled on notepads, scraps of paper, even napkins.

October 16, 2025 – On the night of April 26, friends, colleagues, neighbors, current and former students worldwide – some I have not heard from in twenty years – sent text messages and calls offering condolences and support following Vancouver’s “darkest day.”

September 16, 2025 – Several months have passed since the senseless tragedy that struck the Lapu-Lapu Filipino Street Festival in Vancouver on April 26, 2025. What should have been a joyful celebration of culture and community turned into a day of unimaginable grief when an SUV plowed into the crowd, taking 11 lives and injuring dozens more.

September 1, 2025 — There are no longer bouquets of flowers, rows of candles, and handwritten notes at the fence of the John Oliver Secondary School along East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street– the makeshift memorial in the aftermath of the tragedy that struck the Lapu-Lapu festival in Vancouver on April 26, 2025. 

 I was with my family waiting for our order at a restaurant when I received the call. We left the festival area just as the main stage acts were in progress and the crowd had grown to an impressive size.

 August 1, 2025 - A B.C. government report confirms that Canadian Filipinos in British Columbia seek a dedicated cultural centre to help build community and “foster a sense of family and belonging, learn from elders, and create pride in heritage for the youth of the Filipino community”.