Manitoba Filipino communities 'unite as 1' at vigil for 11 killed in Vancouver festival attack
More than 300 people attend event at Philippine-Canadian Centre of Manitoba on Tuesday night
More than 300 people packed into a Winnipeg auditorium on Tuesday night to honour the 11 people killed and dozens injured during the attack on the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver last weekend.
The Philippine flag outside Philippine-Canadian Centre of Manitoba in Winnipeg was flying at half mast as community members arrived for the 7 p.m. event.
Radisson MLA Jelynn Dela Cruz, whose office organized the event, said the tragedy is a "shared hurt" for members of the Filipino community across Canada.
"There are also people far beyond the walls of this room who share in our grief, nationwide, across the seas," she said.
"We're all in this together."
A black SUV drove into the street festival crowd as the event was winding down around 8 p.m. PT on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring dozens. A Vancouver man is now facing multiple second-degree murder charges in relation to the attack.
Winnipeg is home to the largest per capita Filipino population in Canada, Dela Cruz said, adding that some people consider the city a "year-long Filipino festival" because of the many cultural events hosted here.
She said the hurt caused by the Vancouver attack is deeply felt here.
"The entire community feels that harm because we are so integrated in the framework and the fabric of this province," Dela Cruz said.
Winnipeggers worried for loved ones in Vancouver
At the vigil, community members spoke to the deep connections within the Filipino diaspora across Canada.
WATCH | Winnipeg's Filipino community unites in grief:
Bayani Marcelino told CBC News he has family living in Vancouver, calling them to check in as soon as he heard about the attack. He said his relatives planned to attend the festival, but thankfully didn't go on Saturday.
Still, he said he couldn't sleep days after the attack because the people impacted "are all family."
"They are all Filipino and we are Filipino, so we have to give our support and our condolences to those families," Marcelino said.
Dela Cruz said a family friend, who had recently moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver, was injured in the attack.
"The father has stabilized now and the two-year-old son is still in the ICU," Dela Cruz said, adding a GoFundMe campaign has helped cover flights costs for family and friends visiting the boy in hospital.
As of Tuesday morning, more than $1.5 million had been raised for the victims and their families across multiple online fundraising platforms.
Winnipeg mourners 'unite as one'
At the Keewatin Street centre, hundreds of people from across Winnipeg's diverse communities showed up to pay their respects.
After Muslim, Sikh, Jewish and Christian religious leaders offered prayers and words of support, mourners were invited to approach a table at the front of the room, lined with candles and framed pictures of those who died in Vancouver.
As the procession progressed forward, violinist Paolo Camus repeatedly played Hindi Kita Malilimutan — which means "I will never forget you" in Tagalog — by Basil Valdez.
Evo Paguio was standing along the side of the auditorium — every seat in the room was full —- singing along to the song, which he said reminds him of his late mother.
"I want to give my support to them, the families that lost their mother, father, kids … I wish I could hug them and give my regards to them," he said.
"Every time that tragedy happens, we unite as one," Paguio said.
With files from Ian Froese and Faith Fundal