BURST
The presence of AJ Sico at a memorial mass to commemorate the killing of 11 people and the injuring of dozens more at the Lapu Lapu festival almost a year ago was a stark reminder of the loss to B.C.’s Filipino community.
The 30-year-old was wheeled in to St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in east Vancouver, a few blocks away from the site of the festival that turned deadly on April 26 when a man with a history of mental illness crashed his SUV into the crowded festival.
Eleven people were killed that day outside John Oliver Secondary School at 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, and dozens of others, including Sico, were injured .
As his mother, Jhosie Sico, and supporters wheeled him up the ramp and into the front pew, his mother said his injuries have left AJ Sico unable to speak or walk. She also lost her niece, Jendhel May Sico, 27, who was standing next to AJ and was killed.
“I’m here to get a blessing from the priest,” she said.
They were among the 150 faithful and others who came to pay their respects to those killed by celebrating the Catholic mass on Friday afternoon.
Among the mourners were Premier David Eby, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, all sitting in the front pew of the high-ceilinged church still decorated with potted lilies and spring bouquets from last weekend’s Easter celebrations.
Parish priest Salvador (Jun) Reyes in his homily said he was struck by the messages he had read earlier Friday during a visit to the memorial to victims at Mountainview Cemetery.
“Yes, there was pain and sadness, but at the same time there was something else,” he said. “There was love and compassion and unity among those who chose to stand with others.”
He urged everyone to continue to pray for one another.
In their speeches after the service, Sim repeated that last April 26 was the “darkest day in Vancouver’s history,” and Eby drew comparisons to the deadly killing of nine mostly teenage students by one of their classmates in Tumbler Ridge in February in B.C.’s other recent mass killing, saying they were “both horrific.”
Poilievre read the poem he read when he paid his respects in Tumbler Ridge and reminded the mourners “there is solace in faith.”
Despite the solemnity of the mass, one of the organizers, Lina Vargas, said that in Filipino culture, the memorial mass, traditionally held one year after a loved one dies, marks the end of the grieving period.
“After a year, you have to get out of mourning and move on,” said Vargas, who as an organizer of last year’s festival was a few metres away from the crash and had just finished assigning the volunteers for clean up duties.
“We move into the healing period called babang luksa,” which translates as the end of mourning, said Vargas.
That means no longer wearing black clothing and coming together as a community for the mass and gathering over a meal where food is shared.
There is a “community dinner of remembrance” planned for Sunday evening at the Fraserview banquet hall. It’s a ticketed event and all proceeds will go to support the victims, according to organizers.
And despite views of some who say it’s inappropriate to hold a Lapu Lapu festival this year, Filipino B.C. is holding its third annual festival next weekend at the Italian Cultural Centre. It has said it is a more secure venue with enhanced security and a program that emphasizes healing.
The 2025 festival was held without any car barriers around the site.
The accused in the killings, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, who last year was declared fit for trial after his lawyers lost their bid to have him declared not criminally responsible because of a mental illness, faces 11 charges of second degree murder and 31 charges of attempted murder. He remains in custody and his next appearance is scheduled for later this month in B.C. Supreme Court.