Some Pinoy families in Vancouver want repatriation

MANILA, Philippines — Some families of the Filipino victims of car-ramming attack at a Filipino festival in Vancouver, Canada have requested to be repatriated, the Philippine consulate general in Vancouver said yesterday.

“Now that information is seeping through to the families, some of them have reached out to us, and in fact some of them requested for repatriation but they have to fill up a form. There is a process,” Consul General Gina Jamoralin said in an interview on ANC.

“We can also repatriate the remains,” she said.

There is no official confirmation yet from the Vancouver Police Department on the nationalities of the fatalities.

The police confirmed that of the 11 fatalities, eight were women, two were men plus a five-year-old girl.

“We can’t really say they are all Filipinos. There were other nationalities attending the festival,” she added.

Of the injured, Jamoralin said seven are in critical condition while three are in serious condition.

The joyous celebration of Filipino culture ended in death and devastation after a speeding SUV plowed into a crowd at the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party last Saturday.

The festival, celebrated especially in the central Philippines, honors Datu Lapu-Lapu, the Filipino chieftain who famously defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521.