All of us at the UBC Centre for Southeast Asian Research are devastated by the senseless tragedy at the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party on Saturday, April 26, 2025. We extend our profound condolences to those who have lost loved ones and we keep in our thoughts all those who have been impacted.
This year’s Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party was the second iteration of a vibrant festival in Vancouver, commemorating the victory of Datu Lapu-Lapu and his Visayan warriors against Captain Ferdinand Magellan’s forces at the Battle of Mactan in 1521. The Block Party, organized by Filipino BC, not only celebrates the rich heritage of the Filipinos in Canada, but also serves as a platform for the sharing of diverse cultures in a spirit of bayanihan—a collective community effort. Many CSEAR community members, including faculty and graduate students involved in the National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre (NPC3), were celebrating NPC3’s inaugural Tagalog Language and Heritage Course through a community showcase held nearby. We stand with our community members and the broader Filipino-Canadian community, and affirm the vital contribution that the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Festival has made to enriching the cultural life of Canada.
We invite all community members to attend UBC Kababayan and Sulong UBC’s Candlelight Vigil on Wednesday, April 30th, at 2:30 PM outside the UBC Bookstore.
We amplify UBC Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies and UBC Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice’s list of resources available for those impacted or those who would like to offer support.
- If you can provide support in any way, please fill out the offer form at tr.ee/VanFilEmergency. This website also provides links to several GoFundMe fundraisers to help repatriate the remains of loved ones and support surviving family members pay for funeral costs.
- UBC students who need assistance with missed exams or assignments due to this event can contact Arts Advising.
- UBC staff and faculty can contact GreenShield 24/7 via the GreenShield + platform or call 1 866 424 0770 and select the emergency option for immediate support from a crisis-trained counsellor.
Finally, we would like to reiterate Filipino BC and other Filipino community organizations’ requests not to view or share videos that are circulating of the tragedy. We encourage you to follow the social media pages of Filipino-Canadian community organizations linked above to remain informed about community gatherings and how you can help.
John Roosa (Director) and Quinton Huang (Program Assistant), UBC Centre for Southeast Asian Research
