Vancouver police investigate a crime scene after a man drove into pedestrians at the annual Lapu Lapu festival celebrating Filipino culture, at East 43rd Avenue and Fraser, in the south of Vancouver on April 26, 2025. Don MacKinnon, AFP

MANILA (UPDATED) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday extended his sympathies to the victims of the Lapu-Lapu Festival in Vancouver, Canada, where at least 11 people were killed after a driver plowed festival goers with his vehicle. 

The President — who is en route to Manila from attending the funeral service of Pope Francis in Rome — said he is "completely shattered to hear about the terrible incident." 

"On a day meant to honor the courage of Lapu-Lapu, our Kababayans in Vancouver became victims of an unspeakable tragedy," he said in a statement. "As your President, and as a father, I share in your grief and your anguish."

"The lives lost will not be forgotten." 

While Marcos Jr. assured Filipinos that his administration has "given specific instructions to our diplomats and staff in Vancouver to extend assistance to the victims and coordinate with Canadian authorities properly," the President urged "everyone concerned to keep calm but remain vigilant."

"The Filipino people stand together in mourning, in prayer, and in unwavering support," he said.

"We will do everything in our power to bring comfort, to bring help, and to honor their memory with action," he said.

READ: 9 people killed after car plows into Filipino festival crowd in Vancouver

Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte also offered her condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the attack. 

"My thoughts are with every kababayan affected by an act of violence that has no place in our shared humanity," Duterte said in a statement. 

"I condemn this deliberate assault in the strongest possible terms. There is no justification for targeting peaceful festivalgoers, and those responsible must be held fully accountable under Canadian law," she added. 

'NOT AN ACT OF TERRORISM'

At least 11 people were killed in a "deliberate attack" orchestrated by a 30-year old male suspect who drove his SUV into a crowd who gathered for a Filipino street festival in Vancouver.

"At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism," Vancouver Police said in a statement.

"Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic incident,"

The suspect has been taken into custody, but officials have yet to release the motive for the mass killing that took place a day before the national elections in Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has described the "deliberate" incident as "a car-ramming attack."

"Last night families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter," he said.

"Those families are living every family's nightmare."

Britain's King Charles also sent his sympathies to the victims of the incident, saying that he was "profoundly saddened" due to the attack.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by such a desperate tragedy and we send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonizing time for so many in Canada," said the monarch, who is also head of state in Canada.

Meantime, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it is on standby to extend assistance to the families of the victims.

"The Department and the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver stand ready to extend the appropriate assistance to the bereaved families and will cooperate with Canadian authorities to ensure that adequate support will be provided to our Filipino community," said the DFA in a separate statement.

Officials have yet to say how many of the 11 deceased were Filipinos. -- with reports from Agence France-Presse