Memorial mass for Lapu Lapu victims as anniversary of Vancouver attack nears

VANCOUVER — Rev. Salvador Reyes says he is remembering the Lapu Lapu Day attack that claimed 11 lives in Vancouver not just with pain, but with love.

Reyes said in a sermon at a mass to mark the approaching anniversary of the attack that he visited the memorial to victims at Mountainview Cemetery earlier on Friday, passing the East Vancouver street where the car-ramming attack took place.

He said he was struck by memories of the night of the attack on the Filipino cultural festival.

“But I continued my walk, step by step toward the site, slowly, quietly, offering a prayer for each step,” Reyes said.

“When I finally reached the memorial, I saw the flowers and so many candles. I saw handwritten notes, messages, and many of them written with the tears behind the words.”

Survivors and relatives of victims were joined by British Columbia Premier David Eby, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim at St. Andrew Parish church on Friday to honour victims of the tragedy last April 26.

Reyes told them that on his visit to the cemetery memorial he was struck by the messages from people of different nationalities and cultures.

“I felt something that is different to explain,” he said.

“Yes, there were pain, there was sadness, there was heaviness, but at the same time, there was also something else. You could see there was love.”

Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, said the anniversary of the attack on the Filipino cultural festival was being “widely recognized” across the B.C. Filipino and Catholic communities.

She said the mass allowed victims and families to come together to remember loved ones while showing support for one another.

Elmore, who is of Filipino descent, said she was still extremely emotional when recalling the attack, and was “just steps away” when the suspect was apprehended.

She said healing and recovering would be an ongoing effort for those involved in the “heartbreaking loss,” and it was important to do everything possible to help them and the community recover.

“We have to really make an effort for those who were impacted, who were hurt, whose family members were killed. We have to be there for them, and we have to stand beside them, support them,” said Elmore.

Eby said the Lapu Lapu tragedy and February’s mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., in which eight victims died, were “horrific and disturbing,” and took his breath away.

He said the Filipino community loved to sing not only through easy times but also challenging times.

“To those of you who have been directly affected with lost loved ones, you will not walk alone,” he said.

“You will not mourn alone, and you will not sing alone, as we move through this tragedy.”

Adam Kai-Ji Lo has been charged with 11 counts of second-degree murder and 31 counts of attempted murder. He has yet to face trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press