Vancouver Filipino Community Marks Attack Anniversary

Vancouver's Filipino community gathered in a Fraserview banquet hall on Sunday to mark the approaching one-year anniversary of a deadly vehicle attack that killed 11 people and injured dozens during a festival last April 26. Survivor AJ Sico, who suffered a severe brain injury and multiple fractures in the incident, led the event by singing Canada's national anthem from his wheelchair, drawing a standing ovation from hundreds in attendance.

The gathering, organized by the LapuLapu Society of BC, blended grief, remembrance and hope as survivors, victims' relatives and community members shared stories and supported one another. Sico, now reliant on his mother as a full-time caregiver, performed alongside her, smiling and giving thumbs up to well-wishers. His cousin, Dominique Villamin, described Sico's progress as defying medical expectations. "If you knew him before, you always knew he was stubborn. He's always stubborn. He wanted something, he's gonna do it, right? That's the way AJ was," Villamin said, adding that Sico remains a fighter who continues to improve.

The evening featured performances by Filipino-Canadian singer Warren Dean Flandez, a two-time Juno nominee, and the...