Apl.de.Ap reveals he left Lapu Lapu festival stage minutes before the attack
Apl.de.ap | FILE PHOTO (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
LOS ANGELES – Filipino American hip-hop icon Apl.de.Ap has revealed that he had just left the stage at the Lapu Lapu Day street festival in Vancouver just minutes before the car ramming attack that killed 11 people and injured more than 20 others.
The Grammy-winning artist and Black Eyed Peas co-founder, whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo, headlined the Filipino heritage festival on Saturday, which also featured Black Eyed Peas vocalist J-Rey and other performers with Filipino roots.
He offered his condolences to the victims in an Instagram post.
“Our hearts are broken for the victims, their families and everyone affected by the tragedy at the Lapu-Lapu Festival,” Apl.de.Ap wrote.
“J-Rey and I had just finished performing and left the stage minutes before it happened. It’s hard to describe the shock and heaviness we feel.”
He thanked those who reached out to him after the attack, saying “your love means the world.”
“Please keep the victims, their families and the organizers in your prayers,” he continued. “They need all the love and strength right now.”
View this post on Instagram
Apl.de.Ap also expressed appreciation for the “sense of community that wraps its loving arms around us” since the Vancouver tragedy that prompted Filipinos worldwide to show their solidarity with the Filipino community in Vancouver and offer their prayers for the victims.
Visitors pay their respects at a memorial after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9 percent of the city’s total population, according to Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census.
Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century.
Held for the second straight year, the event featured musical performances, food trucks, kiosks and street dancing.
There was no early indication of a motive, but police said it wasn’t a terrorist attack. The suspect, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has “a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health,” said Vancouver Interim Police Chief Steve Rai.
Lo, a Vancouver resident, was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in a video appearance before a judge Sunday. He has not yet entered a plea.
