Protecting Our Community’s Voice: Petition Submitted to Vancouver Mayor and Council | Filipino BC Statement to Community on Petition
DECEMBER 10, 2025
This morning, we submitted your petition to council, supported by hundreds of signatures and messages from across the community, asking for a delay until the Integrity Commissioner completes a full review. Before anything else, we want to thank each and every one of you who signed, wrote in, and spoke up. At a time when so many feel unheard, your voices reminded this city that our community is neither invisible nor silent.
In the months since the tragedy of April 26, our community has carried a weight no one should bear alone. Families faced unimaginable loss. Survivors struggled to rebuild their lives. Many waited for help that arrived too slowly—or never arrived at all. When institutions hesitated or fell silent, it was the community who stepped forward. Ordinary people showed extraordinary strength.
This is why the future of the Filipino Cultural Centre matters so profoundly.
It is not just a proposal or a building on paper. For many, it represents cultural grounding, a place to gather, to heal, and to rebuild after a year marked by deep loss.
A community that has endured so much deserves a process rooted in honesty, accountability, and respect—not as an afterthought, but as the foundation.
We have always said that a community of our size needs more infrastructure, not less; more charitable capacity, not less; more organizations to support the nearly 200,000 Filipino people across this province. As communities grow, they require space—this is the true measure of growth. We recognize that we are not the only organization facing these pressures. That is why cities have multiple neighbourhood houses and community centres: because no single organization can meet the needs of us all. And that is okay.
But regardless of today’s vote, what matters most is your voice. This has never been about opposing the centre; our community needs it, we want it, and we are united in that vision.
What we refuse to accept is a process shaped by influence behind closed doors, double talk in place of answers, or decisions made without you.
We must ask ourselves: if certain individuals in positions of authority were not using their influence to avoid addressing real concerns, would we even be here today? If commitments had been honoured and communication had been transparent from the beginning, would our community be forced to fight simply to be included?
Decisions of this magnitude should never be guided by the few. Where and how a cultural centre is built must be guided by us—the people. And today, you made sure your voices were heard.
Regardless of today’s vote, we have heard your calls for transparency and accountability.
Regardless of today’s vote, we have heard your calls for genuine consultation and meaningful public engagement.
Regardless of today’s vote, we have heard loud and clear your desire for the community to move forward together.
These are the values we commit to placing at the centre of our work.
And let us be unmistakably clear: we will not allow the patterns of corruption many of us witnessed back home to take root here. Not while our community is still healing. Not while families affected by April 26 continue to seek justice, support, and recognition. Legitimate concerns cannot be dismissed with vague assurances. Accountability cannot be replaced with political convenience.
Our promise to you is this: We will continue to hold accountable those who claim to represent our community. And we ask you to hold us to the same standard.
No one will steal the mantle of the centre from the Filipino community. This vision is yours. This future is ours.
This is not only about honouring those who came before us—those we have lost, those who built the path we now walk. It is about safeguarding the future for those who will inherit it. Together, we can build a place that reflects our history, our values, our resilience, and the future we all deserve.
