Filipino ‘caring culture’ hit hard by Canada truck-ramming that killed 11

April 29, 2025 , 01:16 PM

By Daniel Trotta

(April 28, 2025, REUTERS) – The election eve truck-ramming that killed 11 people and injured dozens more in Vancouver sent waves of grief across Canada’s Filipino community, integral to Canada in part through many members’ roles as caregivers.

A man drove through a crowded pedestrian zone during a Filipino cultural festival on Saturday. Officials have arrested a suspect they said had a significant history of mental health issues, and said there was no evidence of terrorism in the attack that struck just before Monday’s election to choose a prime minister.

The victims ranged in age from 5 to 65, officials said.

Five-year-old Katie Le was killed with both her parents, Richard Le, 47, and Linh Hoang, 30, according to a Go Fund Me page that raised $250,000 for the family. Also among the dead was Kira Salim, a teacher and counselor at a middle school and secondary school, education officials announced.

Nearly one million of Canada’s 40 million people identify as being of Filipino ethnic origin, and more than 172,000 Filipino Canadians are in British Columbia, according to the 2021 census.

Their influence extends across Canada as caregivers. Many Filipinas have carved out their place in Canada by raising other people’s children. Still others tend to the elderly, or have found careers as nurses or medical technicians.

“This is what we do best,” said Christina, 58, a Filipina who attended a candlelight vigil for the victims and asked not to be identified by last name. “We’re just such a caring culture. We always say we’re willing to give.”

David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, acknowledged their role in comments on Canadian television on Sunday when he pledged to support them “just like they support us.”

“It’s their turn to get care from us,” Eby said.

The provincial government has pledged that victims and their families will have access to support.

The truck-ramming came during a celebration honoring Datu Lapu-Lapu, the Filipino chieftain who defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521 and became a national hero. Filipino Canadians see the government of British Columbia’s 2023 official recognition of April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day as acknowledgement of the cultural contributions of their community, one of the largest immigrant groups in the province.

“We’ve been here a really long time,” said Jonathan Tee, 30, a second-generation Filipino born in Canada. “We don’t need to earn a place here. We are here.”

Some 75,000 people from the Philippines became permanent residents of Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program between 1992 and 2014. The program offering a path to permanent residency has been modified since 2014.

VULNERABLE TO EXPLOITATION

Women fleeing poverty in the Philippines and living in the homes of their Canadian bosses needed to maintain employment in order to gain permanent residency, leaving them vulnerable to extreme working conditions and abuse.

“It was deeply exploitative because of the closed permit tied to a particular employer,” said Geraldine Pratt, a professor at the University of British Columbia whose studies on the subject underpinned the stage play “Nanay,” depicting the lives of live-in caregivers.

“Most of us have some connection to the Filipino community. And it’s not just childcare. It’s care for seniors, it’s hospitals, when you go for a mammogram or to get your blood tested,” Pratt said.

Many immigrants from the Philippines are highly educated and overqualified for the jobs available to them, according to a 2023 Canadian census report.

More than 40% of Filipinos held a bachelor’s degree or higher but were underrepresented in jobs requiring such a degree, the report said.

The overqualification rate of 41.8% was nearly double the rate of the Chinese population and was nearly three times the rate of 15.5% among the total population, the report said.

“One factor in overqualification and job mismatch was that over one-third (34.0%) of Filipino immigrant women immigrated as principal applicants through the caregiver program, which recruits them to work in personal care occupations,” the report said.

About 36% of Filipinas who earned nursing degrees back home instead worked as nurse aides, orderlies or patient service associates in Canada, while 13% worked in sales or service jobs, the census report said.

Maki Cairns, 26, who advocates for the rights of women in the Philippine diaspora as an activist with the group Gabriela BC, said many have chosen to remain silent in the face of abuse so that they can bring their own children to Canada.

“Why do they have to be separated from their families and raise children that are not their own?” Cairns said. “They hardly ever get to see their children in the Philippines.”

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Vancouver; Editing by Donna Bryson and Matthew Lewis)

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Commitment

TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.

We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.

Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?

We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:

To deliver news and updates on current events, sports, esports and entertainment;
To share livestreams of news and sports events;
To understand our viewers’ needs and preferences;
To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
To perform other processes or disclosures that are required to comply with pertinent laws, rules, or regulations.

Where do we get your personal information?

There are several ways we collect your personal information.

Information that you personally provided.

Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
- Register to our programs or services;
- Inquired, filed a complaint or requested for our services;
- Took part in our research and surveys; and/or
- Became our Partner, Vendor, Contractor or Supplier.

Information we collect during your engagement with us

We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
- Viewing our websites;
- Activities that are being tracked by our website cookies;
- Calling our hotline;
- Using our apps, websites, and self-service channels and portals; and/or
- Joining our promos, prize raffles, or rewards and loyalty programs.

Information we collect from other sources

Other means of collection of information may be through:
- Our market research initiatives;
- When you visit and use our websites and mobile application; and
- Subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party business partners to whom you have given consent to share your information to us.

When do we disclose personal information?

There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.

We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.

In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.

How we protect your personal information

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.

We also put in effect the following safeguards:

We keep and protect your information using a secured server behind a firewall, encryption and security controls;
We keep your information only for as long as it is necessary for us to (a) provide the products and services that you avail from us, (b) for our legitimate business purposes, (c) to comply with pertinent laws, and (d) for special cases that will require the exercise or defense of legal claims;
We limit the access to your information only to qualified and authorized personnel who are trained to handle your information with strict confidentiality;
We undergo regular audits and rigorous testing of our infrastructure’s security protocols to ensure your data is always protected;
We promptly notify you and the National Privacy Commission when sensitive personal information that may, under the circumstances, be used to enable identity fraud are reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person; and
We let you update your information securely to keep our records accurate.

TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.

What are your choices?

We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.

If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.

Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph

What happens when there are changes in our Policy?

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.

You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.