Calgary Filipino community reacts to Vancouver tragedy

Calgary’s Filipino community says a vehicle being driven into crowd celebrating a joyous occasion is beyond imagination. Tyler Barrow reports.

The first thing Mairmel Bistrovic did Sunday morning, after hearing of the tragic events that took place at a Vancouver Filipino festival Saturday night, was to see if her cousins were OK.

“Fortunately, they are okay,” said Bistrovic, who has administrated the Facebook page for the Calgary Filipino Community for the past 11 years and has lived in the city for 24 years.

She wasn’t the only one doing that, as Filipinos across Calgary, Alberta and the rest of Canada reacted to the news that at least 11 people were killed, and many more injured, Saturday when a 30-year-old drove an SUV through the crowd celebrating at the Lapu Lapu Festival.

“(The) Filipino community is one big family,” Bistrovic said. “It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, if you hear ‘Filipino’, everybody in the world will be mourning (today).”

Bistrovic’s feelings were shared by Lenie Zuniga, who’s a board member of United Filipino Entrepreneurs Association of Alberta.

“When my son shared this article and video, and I literally paused and looked at the article and I thought of my friends and connections in Vancouver,” Zuniga said.

“I started to search for them on Facebook and Messenger, and I practically sent a message to a high school friend who lives there, a friend who I used to work with, like, back home, and thank goodness, after like, you know, 30 minutes or so, they said, ‘We are safe. Thank you for asking’. And I just said, please take care and be safe.

“It’s so devastating,” she added. “It’s not the kind of news you want to wake up in the morning, but it happened, so I feel for the business owners and the families, first and foremost, because Filipinos would usually hold events like this to celebrate ... so I am really sad with this scenario and situation.”

Zuniga is one of the organizers of a Calgary Filipino heritage festival taking place in June.

“One of the things I texted my friend right away was, imagine we’re celebrating heritage month in June, and we’re going to be in an open space,” she said.

“What kind of safety measures are we putting together as an organization, you know, just to protect our guests, to protect the business owners and the families who come to celebrate with us?

“Seriously, that’s one of the first few things that is in my mind.”

Premier, mayor express condolences

Alberta politicians reacted on social media to the tragedy in Vancouver Sunday morning.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted condolences on X Sunday morning.

“Filipino Canadians are kind, hard-working and cherished members of our communities right across Canada,” she wrote. “What happened last night at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver is truly incomprehensible.”

“Albertans are heartbroken by this devastating loss of life and injuries reported.

“Vancouver and its Filipino community are firmly in our thoughts and prayers.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek also posted condolences on X.

“The devastating attack on the Filipino community in Vancouver last night is heartbreaking,” she said. “The Lapu Lapu Day Festival was meant to be a celebration, but ended in horror after a senseless act of violence.”

“My heart is with the Filipino community in Vancouver as well as Calgary.”

With files from CTV’s Lisa Steacy