The messy politics behind the battle for a Filipino Cultural Centre in Vancouver

A proposed Filipino Cultural Centre in Vancouver might get one step closer to reality on Wednesday – but the divides in the community, regarding who should lead it, could be long-lasting.“A lot of the youth are just wondering what the heck is going on. They just see their elders, their aunties, their uncles, their grandpas and grandmas just going at it on Facebook,” said Armor Valor Corrales, a former board member of Filipino B.C. On Wednesday, Vancouver council will vote on whether to work with a new non-profit, the Filipino Legacy Society, to fast-track approval and development of a cultural centre on a piece of land at Main Street and East Third Avenue owned by Tobi Reyes, a prominent Filipino developer. The proposal has been strongly supported by B.C. NDP MLA Mable Elmore, a well-known politician from the Filipino community, as well as many other Filipino organizations.But it’s also been opposed by other community stakeholders, some of which have designs on overseeing their own cultural centre.WATCH | Mayor’s announcement regarding cultural centre draws pushback:Groups concerned as Vancouver mayor looks to fast-track Filipino Cultural CentreVancouver Mayor Ken Sim has announced a plan to build a long-awaited Filipino Cultural Centre below a hotel in downtown Vancouver. He will be taking the motion to the city council this month. As Pinki Wong reports, however, some community groups say they won’t support it. Over the past several months, a divide has formed in meetings and on social media that could determine not only the fate of the cultural centre, but which organizations in B.C.’s Filipino community will go forward with the most political influence. “What’s clear to me is that the entire community is unified in wanting a centre,” said Filipino B.C. chair RJ Aquino.“But the people that are in support of this, versus people who are not in support of this, are operating with a different set of facts.” WATCH | RJ Aquino calls for more gov’t funding for Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy victims:Filipino B.C. chair says Lapu-Lapu Day victims need more government aidThe chair of Filipino B.C., RJ Aquino, is calling for more government support for the victims of Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu Day festival tragedy. He said survivors and victims’ families are still struggling six months after the killings. A project ready to goHere is one set of facts.The land is owned by a Filipino developer, has the support of the mayor and Elmore, with a provincial and federal government eager to provide funding for something that could be a lasting legacy to the region’s large Filipino community in the aftermath of the unthinkable Lapu-Lapu Day festival tragedy. “I hope we have a space for the Filipino community to come together,” said Elmore, fighting back tears.“I hope we have a physical space that the community has wanted and deserves; that is open to the full community, for everyone to be welcomed.”One of many memorials for victims of the Lapu-Lapu Day festival tragedy in Vancouver in late April. The car-ramming, that killed 11 people at a festival celebrating the Filipino community, galvanized support for a Filipino Cultural Centre. (Ben Nelms/CBC)There have been efforts for years by several groups to bring forward a cultural centre, including Mabuhay House and Filipino B.C., both of which oppose the Filipino Legacy Society development. But supporters say this proposal is the one that has developed the furthest, has additional partnerships in place and would have a sustainable revenue stream through the hotel also planned for the site.“They’re not picking and choosing, it’s the only one that was able to be brought forward and is ready to come before city council,” said Elmore. “That’s my support of it as well.”WATCH | Mable Elmore’s past interview supported the establishment of a cultural centre:Federal support for Filipino cultural centre is ‘big news,’ says Vancouver MLAVancouver-Kensington NDP MLA Mable Elmore calls federal budget support for a Filipino community and cultural centre in Metro Vancouver “big news.” Elmore told BC Today host Michelle Eliot there has been a decades-long wait for a dedicated physical space for the community to come together.An apology that didn’t happenBut there are a different set of facts that Aquino thinks are more important. Reyes has faced foreclosure actions against his ownership of the site, with lenders Atlin Capital taking him to B.C. Supreme Court in 2021, alleging he owed approximately $17 million. The Filipino Legacy Society was incorporated by the province on Aug. 25. Three days later, Reyes filed a motion in B.C. Supreme Court responding to Atlin Capital, saying he was in negotiations with the city and province in building a Filipino Cultural Centre on the site, but wanted details that were sent to the court and lenders in sworn affidavits kept private.A rendering of the Filipino Cultural Centre proposed by the Filipino Legacy Society and supported by Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim. (Filipino Legacy Society)Meanwhile, Filipino B.C. had been meeting every quarter with city council and had their own dreams of a cultural centre. But by all accounts, the relationship turned sour around the period when they criticized the city’s proposed benefit concert at Rogers Arena, which would have taken place two months after the car-ramming that killed 11 people.Filipino B.C. said they hadn’t been notified about the concert, and said “it is critical that his process centres the voices of the families’ affected communities.”A meeting was held at city hall shortly after between Aquino and the mayor’s office.That’s where Aquino says Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s chief of staff Trevor Ford made — depending on your perspective — a request or demand. “We needed to issue a statement apologizing to the mayor,” said Aquino. “We needed to not only retract, but to apologize.”Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, right, speaks to his chief of staff Trevor Ford on Feb. 26. RJ Aquino from Filipino B.C. says Ford said the society should have issued an apology after it was critical of a planned memorial concert. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Aquino didn’t apologize or retract. In the end, the benefit concert was postponed until next year, and the quarterly meetings between the two groups came to an end.Elmore sent texts to Filipino B.C. board members saying the relationship with the city was in jeopardy, and organized multiple meetings between her and various board members.Months later, multiple members of the board resigned, and the city championed the proposal by the new Filipino Legacy Society. “If people had more information and understood the breakdown in relationship between Filipino B.C. and the city, and if they understood the organizing powers of certain people, they would have a better understanding of the situation,” said Corrales.Politics on both sides?When asked for comment, Ford and Elmore were adamant that the two situations were not connected.Ford said he did ask Filipino B.C. to apologize to Sim — but argues the organization made a number of inaccurate comments, about a lack of consultation in the months before and after that meeting, that led to the breakdown of the relationship.He added that the endorsement of the Filipino Legacy Society project is separate from that conflict. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, left, is seen with Ford last month. Sim has lent his support for the Filipino Legacy Society proposal. (Ben Nelms/CBC)And while Elmore didn’t comment directly on her text messages to Filipino B.C. board members, she says she provides advice to all sorts of Filipino groups — but at this stage, what matters is there’s one project that’s ready to move forward. “We’ve said we will consider all options equally. But you know, the decision has to be made and we do have to move. That’s also my message,” she said.NDP MLA Mable Elmore, seen here in October 2017, said she provides advice to many Filipino groups in B.C. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)In recent weeks, a number of articles have been published about the controversy that highlight Aquino’s past council campaigns with left-wing parties COPE and OneCity, which oppose Sim. Some of the past board members who Elmore texted in the aftermath of the controversy eventually resigned, and last week published a letter demanding financial transparency from Filipino B.C.Wednesday’s vote on the project won’t give the project the green light: it doesn’t involve rezoning, and the province and federal government still have to provide funding. But no matter what happens, it will likely take time for all sides to be as united — as they were in the weeks following a tragedy that galvanized support for the very cultural centre now causing tension. “We don’t hate each other,” said Corrales. “I want them to know that I still consider them friends. Christmas is a big thing in the Filipino community, and I hope that we can be friendly again and share a meal together. But one can only pray.”