Sadness and fury among the Vancouver Philippines after attacking the festival

The paw festival in Vancouver, which was the celebration of the Philippine pride, ended with the voice of the siren and the screams Saturday.

Eleven people – the younger only five – died, and many others were hospitalized after the man conducted an SUV through the crowd.

“Many of us are still numb. Many of us are still angry, confused, sad, devastated – and some of us do not know how to feel what to feel,” says RJ Aquino, chairman of the Philippine BC, an organization that put on the festival.

He performed in a vigil, which was attended by hundreds of people from all over the lower mainland on Sunday night.

“Honestly, I’m kind of all of the above,” he adds.

Those who were on the festival all day remained a strong sense of shock, sadness and rage after the attack.

Roger Perelta and Björn Villarreal, friends who came to Canada in 2016 spent the evening, listening to music and eating their homeland.

“Suddenly I hear this incredible noise,” Björn recalls.

“It was a loud blow,” Roger says.

Both men describe the vision of bodies that bounce off the SUV a few meters from them.

“I didn’t run away,” Björn continues. “I actually followed the vehicle because I felt I could stop it.

“It was awful. A lot of people (were) just lay on the street and cried and asked for help.”

Almost a day later Roger is still shocked and can’t sleep when the scene is repeated in his mind. He says he needs to stop and cry.

But he also told about the strong Philippine spirit, which, he said, would raise the society.

“We have a Bayanikhan in our culture,” he explains that it is translated as a spirit of unity and cooperation between the Philippines.

“When you meet another Philippine, even if you don’t know them, greet them, you feel that they are a family, even if you don’t.”

British Colombia Prime Minister David Abby also paid tribute to the Philippine community in Canada, saying that he did not “think of British Columbia, which the Philippine community did not affect.”

“You can’t go to a place that helps in our province and do not meet with a member of this community,” he said.

“Our houses for long -term assistance, our hospitals, children, schools. This is a community that gives and gives.”

Björn, who works in the hospital as a technologist of magnetic resonance imaging.

“We are very caring people,” he says.

Both he and Roger were angry SUV in the first place in the crowd. They said they were felt by Canada.

The Prime Minister Abby said he felt it also fiercely.

“But I want to turn the rage I feel that we stand with the Philippine community,” he said, standing in front of a police cruiser, blocking access to a crime scene.

“This event does not determine us and the Philippine community or celebration.”