Pain lingers for Filipino community and others, 40 days since Lapu Lapu tragedy

VANCOUVER — On the 40th day since Connie Sombrea attended the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver — an event that would end with 11 people dead — she made her first visit to the memorial to victims of the tragedy at Mountain View Cemetery.

The site adorned with dozens of stuffed teddy bears, Philippines flags, and handwritten cards is just a couple blocks from the site of the April 26 ramming attack on the festival crowd that also left dozens injured.

“It is very hard to move on, but I mean day by day, we can’t dwell,” said Sombrea, reflecting on the weeks since the attack. “Or else it’s just gonna hurt you even more, right?”

Thursday marked the end of a 40-day mourning period, significant in Filipino Catholic tradition.

Advocacy group Filipino BC said in a statement the day held “deep spiritual meaning.”

“It is believed that the soul remains close to us during these 40 days, before finding peace and fully departing from the physical world.”

Members of Vancouver’s Filipino community and others visited memorial sites, to honour and pray for victims, while a memorial mass was scheduled at an East Vancouver church Thursday evening.

Sombrea, who left the festival before the attack, said she was bombarded with messages that night, asking if she was OK.

“I didn’t know what they were talking about, and then my friend sent me a link, and I was like, oh my God, that hit hard,” said Sombrea.

Clifford Belgica, program director for United Filipino Canadian Associations in British Columbia, said the 40th day of mourning was significant.

But he said he did not like to use words like “heal” or “move on” to describe the moment, since so many were still reeling from the attack

“I don’t think we will, for a while, be healing from this, right? I don’t like to overuse the term ‘healing,’ because some people will never heal from a loss of something like this,” said Belgica.

Rev. Francis Galvan said he expected the memorial mass at St. Andrew’s Parish church to be crowded.

Galvan, who is of Filipino heritage and is the pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Delta, B.C., said it was important for the mourning process to be shared.

He also said it was also important to show solidarity with victims’ families by hearing their stories.

Vancouver police said seven people injured in the attack remain in hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, with six in stable condition and one in serious condition.

Filipino BC’s statement listed names and ages of all 11 people who died in the attack, who ranged in age from five to 60.

“This is not closure,” Filipino BC said.

“Healing does not follow a schedule. But today offers a moment to pause. To gather. To feel. And to remind ourselves that healing, while difficult, is possible when we do it together.”

RJ Aquino, who chairs Filipino BC, said the aftermath of the attack had cast a shadow over Filipino Heritage Month, which is marked every June.

He said some people were still having a difficult time crossing the street or even leaving their homes after the attack, but being with other members of the community is a way to encourage collective healing.

The City of Vancouver has separately announced plans for a large-scale memorial event later this month to honour the victims.

The “Come Together: Vancouver Strong,” benefit concert will be held at Rogers Arena, although the exact date has not been set.

Attack suspect Adam Kai-Ji Lo faces eight counts of second-degree murder, and Vancouver police have said more charges are expected.

The BC Prosecution Service said Thursday that Lo’s next court appearance will be in person on July 23, for a fitness hearing, after an appearance scheduled for Friday was vacated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.

Nono Shen and Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press