104. LAPU-LAPU & QUINCENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION PREP

LAPU-LAPU & QUINCENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION PREP

Dr. TroyAlexander G. Miano

15 October 2019

President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Executive Order No. 22, s. 2018 on May 8, 2018 constituting a steering committee for the commemoration of the quincentennial of the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines, the victory of Lapu-Lapu in the Battle of Mactan, and other historic events that happened from 1521 to 1522. As a lover of history, I prepared to participate in the 500 year old, once in a lifetime celebration of our nation’s history. As early as last year, I already drafted pamphlets, scribbled historical articles and prepared photos to mark the quincentennial anniversary.

I was given the rare chance by Governor Rodolfo “Rodito” T. Albano III, through the Provincial Administrator, to attend the Stakeholders’ Meeting for Luzon this afternoon at the Heroes Hall, City Hall of San Fernando, Pampanga. Hon. Jaime T. Lazatin, my classmate in my doctoral degree at the Lyceum Northwestern University who is the incumbent vice mayor of the host city, welcomed the participants. Other speakers were: Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Q. Chan; Chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Dr. Rene R. Escalante; Department of Tourism USec. Arturo P. Boncato, Jr., Presidential Communications Operations Office Chief of Staff Mr. Karl Louie Fajardo and Department of Foreign Affairs ASec Eduardo Martin R. Menez.

One of the preparations for the actual event is the 500-day countdown. In the aforementioned day-to-day activity, 21 sites were mentioned to take part.  For Region II, Basco, Batanes was included. During the Open Forum, I voiced out that we in Cagayan Valley proper also wishes to be part of the activity. I informed the plenary that Isabela was the site of the Last Stand of the First Philippine Republic in Palanan, Isabela when President Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the colonizing Americans in 1901. I also suggested that we include the old pueblo of Lal-lo, Cagayan, seat of the Spanish Diocese of Nueva Segovia and one of the five first cities in the country founded in 1581. Dr. Escalante asked me to coordinate with the NCCA staff. Chairman Escalante also suggested to include the Callao Caves in Peñablanca, Cagayan where the Homo Luzonensis, the prehistoric man, was discovered.

In the quincentennial celebration, national hero Lapu-Lapu is the center of the commemoration. The name Lapu-Lapu became a legend in the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta (c.1491-c.1531), the official chronicler of the Magellan-Elcano Voyage. One of the rulers of Mactan Island in what is now the Visayas, Lapu-Lapu defied Spanish rule which led to the Battle of Mactan where Portuguese voyager Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) was killed. Modern Philippine society regarded him as the first Filipino hero because he was the first native to resist imperial Spanish colonization.

Almost all Filipinos knew the story of Lapu-Lapu and the Battle of Mactan. In various historical accounts, Lapu-Lapu is also known under the names Çilapulapu, Si Lapulapu, Salip Pulaka, Cali Pulaco, and Lapulapu Dimantag. However, it was never stated in the accounts of Pigafetta that the Spaniards saw personally the defiant chief of Mactan. Furthermore, it was never mentioned that it was indeed Lapu-Lapu himself who struck the fatal blow which killed the Portuguese conquistador. What is now important is that at the start of the colonization of the Islands, now known as the Philippines, courage, bravery and heroism were present in repulsing foreign domination. It was very evident that our early ancestors cannot be pushed by any forces by way of intimidation.   

Today, monuments to Lapu-Lapu have been built in Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan and Rizal Park in Manila, while the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection uses his image as part of their official seals. On June 17, 1961, the Municipality of Opon in Mactan Island, Cebu was chartered a city and renamed to Lapu-Lapu by virtue of Republic Act No. 3134.

Furthermore, numerous streets around the country were named after Lapu-Lapu including a street in South Market, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. Even names of sections in schools used his name. The bust of Lapu-Lapu was used four times in the observe of the one sentimo coin issued from 1967-1974, 1975-1978, 1979-1982 and 1983-1993. In 1972, Lapu-Lapu was mentioned in the song “Magellan” by singer, composer lyricist and comedian, Yoyoy Villame (born Roman Tesorio Villame; 1932-2007).

Moreover, on April 27, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte declared April 27, the date when Battle of Mactan happened, as “Lapu-Lapu Day” and also signed the creation of the "Order of Lapu-Lapu" earlier in April 7, to recognize the government workers and private citizens on supporting his advocacies. Two films were made in his honor; “Lapu-Lapu” portrayed by Mario Montenegro in 1955 and another with the same title portrayed by Lito Lapid in 2002. Lapu-Lapu was also the playable hero character in the mobile game “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang”. And the most common usage of the name is used by the people of Luzon Island on a kind of fish called grouper.

Lapu-Lapu and the Mactan Incident played an important role in the history of the world. It was this journey when mankind realized that the world is round and not flat. It was this voyage, through this route, when Juan Sebastian Elcano (1476-1526) and his remaining 21 men (17 European and 4 Timorese Asians) aboard the carrack Victoria completed the first circumnavigation of the earth on September 6, 1522.

Asking the millennials on who Lapu-Lapu was, two answers are always ready. First, the “Lapu-Lapu” who killed Magellan. And second, a Lapu-Lapu, the yummy fish prepared during feasts.