Nurses host walking memorial on anniversary of Lapu Lapu tragedy in Vancouver

A memorial for the victims of the Lapu Lapu tragedy was set up on the one-year anniversary of the attack, on Sunday, April 26.

The Philippine Nurses Association of B.C. has organized an open-air memorial for the victims of last year’s Lapu Lapu Day tragedy in Vancouver’s largest cemetery, near the site of the deadliest attack in the city’s history.

Starting at noon, well-wishers and mourners were welcome to attend Mountain View Cemetery at the southeast corner by Fraser Street and East 41^st Avenue, where a row of blue tents protected a poignant tribute: placards bearing the name of each victim with vibrant bouquets of white and purple flowers set above and below.

PNABC spokesperson Clifford Belgica described it as a walking memorial to allow people to remember and grieve in their own way.

“I think the community as a whole, we need to come together,” he said. “It is a very, very simple event, no fanfare and it’s basically let’s give the victims due recognition and due respect.”

Musical tributes from choirs and other groups and speeches were scheduled to take place later in the afternoon. A formal wreath-laying was set to take place at 8:14 p.m., one year to the moment since a man in an SUV rammed through the street festival and killed 11 people, wounding dozens of others.

The public was invited to bring flowers or reflect on the tragedy and a steady trickle attended throughout the day. Some laid flowers, others said prayers over the names, and members of the Salish First Nation smudged over the placards.

Ben Castro told CTV News that the act of ceremony was important in terms of “holding space for the present, for people here and for the people that passed, just so that they know that we remember them and that we’re thinking of them, holding them in our hearts and also holding space for all the people still taking their time in terms of their grieving process.”