Lapu-Lapu (Baybayin: ᜎᜉᜓᜎᜉᜓ, Abecedario:
Lápú-Lápú) (fl. 1521) was a ruler of Mactan
in the Visayas. Modern Philippine society
regards him as the first Filipino hero because
he was the first native to resist Imperial
Spanish colonization. He is best known for
the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn
on April 27, 1521, where he and his soldiers
defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
The battle ended up in the killing of Magellan
and the end of his expedition and it delayed
the Spanish occupation of the islands by over
forty years until the expedition of Miguel
López de Legazpi in 1564. Monuments to Lapu-Lapu
have been built in Cebu and Manila, while
the Philippine National Police and the Bureau
of Fire Protection use his image as part of
their official seals.
Besides being a rival of Rajah Humabon of
neighbouring Cebu, very little is known about
the life of Lapu-Lapu. The only existing documents
about his life are those written by Antonio
Pigafetta. His name, origins, religion and
fate are still a matter of controversy.
Lapu-Lapu is also known under the names Çilapulapu,
Si Lapulapu, Salip Pulaka, Cali Pulaco, and
Lapulapu Dimantag.
== Name ==
The historical name of Lapu-Lapu is debated.
The earliest record of his name comes from
Italian diarist Antonio Pigafetta who accompanied
Magellan's expedition. Pigafetta notes the
names of two chiefs of the island of "Matan",
the chiefs "Zula" and "Çilapulapu" (note
Ç). The honorific Çi or Si is a corruption
of the Sanskrit title Sri. In an annotation
of the 1890 edition of Antonio de Morga's
Sucesos de las islas Filipinas, José Rizal
spells this name as "Si Lapulapu". The Aginid
chronicle calls him "Lapulapu Dimantag".The
title Salip (and its variants Sarripada, Sipad,
Paduka, Seri Paduka, and Salipada, etc.) is
frequently used as an honorific for Lapu-lapu
and other Visayan datus. Despite common misconception,
it is not derived from the Islamic title Khalīfah
(Caliph). Like the cognate Si, it was derived
from the Sanskrit title Sri Paduka, denoting
"His Highness". The title is still used today
in Malaysia as Seri Paduka.The 17th century
mestizo de sangley poet Carlos Calao mentions
Lapu-Lapu under the name of "Cali Pulaco"
(perhaps a misreading of the Ç used in Pigafetta's
spelling) in his poem Que Dios le perdone
(May God Forgive Him). The name, spelled "Kalipulako",
was later adopted as one of the pseudonyms
of the Philippine hero, Mariano Ponce, during
the Philippine Revolution. The 1898 Philippine
Declaration of Independence of Cavite II el
Viejo, also mentions Lapu-Lapu under the name
"Rey Kalipulako de Manktan [sic]" (King Kalipulako
of Mactan).
== Early life ==
There had been many folk accounts surrounding
Lapu-Lapu’s origin. One oral tradition is
that the Sugbuanons of Opong was once ruled
by datu named Mangal and later succeeded by
his son named Lapu-Lapu. Another is from oral
chronicles from the reign of the last king
of Cebu, Rajah Tupas (d. 1565). This was compiled
and written in Baybayin in the book Aginid,
Bayok sa Atong Tawarik ("Glide on, Odes to
Our History") in 1952 by Jovito Abellana.
The chronicle records the founding of the
Rajahnate of Cebu by a certain Sri Lumay (also
known as Rajamuda Lumaya), who was a prince
from the Hindu Chola dynasty of Sumatra. His
sons, Sri Alho and Sri Ukob, ruled the neighboring
communities of Sialo and Nahalin, respectively.
The islands they were in were collectively
known as Pulua Kang Dayang or Kangdaya (literally
"[the islands] of the lady"). Sri Lumay was
noted for his strict policies in defending
against Moro raiders and slavers from Mindanao.
His use of scorched earth tactics to repel
invaders gave rise to the name Kang Sri Lumayng
Sugbo (literally "that of Sri Lumay's great
fire") to the town, which was later shortened
to Sugbo ("conflagration").Upon his death
in a battle against the raiders, Sri Lumay
was succeeded by his youngest son, Sri Bantug,
who ruled from the region of Singhapala (literally
"lion city"), now Mabolo in modern Cebu City.
Sri Bantug died of a disease during an epidemic
and was succeeded by his son Rajah Humabon
(also known as Sri Humabon or Rajah Humabara).During
Humabon's reign, the region had become an
important trading center. The harbors of Sugbo
became known colloquially as sinibuayng hingpit
("the place for trading"), shortened to sibu
or sibo ("to trade"), from which the modern
name "Cebu" originates.According to the epic
Aginid, this was the period in which Lapu-Lapu
(as Lapulapu Dimantag) was first recorded
as arriving from Borneo. He asked Humabon
for a place to settle, and the king offered
him the region of Mandawili (now Mandaue),
including the island known as Opong (or Opon),
hoping that Lapu-Lapu's people would cultivate
the land. They were successful in this, and
the influx of farm produce from Mandawili
enriched the trade port of Sugbo further.The
relationship between Lapu-Lapu and Humabon
later deteriorated when Lapu-Lapu turned to
piracy. He began raiding merchant ships passing
the island of Opong, affecting trade in Sugbo.
The island thus earned the name Mangatang
("those who lie in wait"), later evolving
to "Mactan".
== Battle of Mactan ==
Lapu-Lapu was one of the two datus of Mactan
before the Spanish arrived in the archipelago,
the other being a certain Zula, both of whom
belong to the Maginoo class. When Portuguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the
Philippines in the service of Spain, Zula
was one of those who gave tribute to the Spanish
king while Lapu-Lapu refused.
In the midnight of April 27, 1521, Magellan
led a force of around sixty Spaniards and
twenty to thirty war boats (karakoa) of Humabon's
warriors from Cebu. They arrived in Mactan
three hours before dawn. However, because
of the presence of rock outcroppings and coral
reefs, Magellan's ships could not land on
the shores of Mactan. Their ships were forced
to anchor "two crossbow flights" away from
the beach. According to Antonio Pigafetta,
they faced around 1,500 warriors of Lapu-Lapu
armed with iron swords, bows, lantakas, and
"bamboo" spears.Magellan repeated his offer
not to attack them if Lapu-Lapu swore fealty
to Rajah Humabon, obeyed the Spanish king,
and paid tribute, which Lapu-Lapu again rejected.
At the taunting request of Lapu-Lapu, the
battle did not begin until morning. Magellan,
perhaps hoping to impress Humabon's warriors
with the superiority of European armor and
weapons, told Humabon's warriors to remain
in their balangay. Magellan and forty-nine
of the heavily armored Spaniards (armed with
lances, swords, crossbows, and muskets) waded
ashore to meet Lapu-Lapu's forces. They set
fire to a few houses on the shore in an attempt
to scare them. Instead, Lapu-Lapu's warriors
became infuriated and charged. Two Spaniards
were killed immediately in the fighting, and
Magellan was wounded in the leg with a poisoned
arrow, most likely a primitive punji stick.
He ordered a retreat, which most of his men
followed except for a few who remained to
protect him. However, he was recognized as
the captain by the natives, whereupon he became
the focus of the attack. Outnumbered and encumbered
by their armor, Magellan's forces were quickly
overwhelmed. Magellan and several of his men
were killed, and the rest who did not drown
in their superior armor escaped to the waiting
ships.The historian William Henry Scott believes
that Lapu-Lapu's hostility may have been the
result of a mistaken assumption by Magellan.
Magellan assumed that ancient Filipino society
was structured in the same way as European
society (i.e. with royalty ruling over a region).
While this may have been true in the Islamic
sultanates in Mindanao, the Visayan societies
were structured along a loose federation of
city-states (more accurately, a chiefdom).
The most powerful datu in such a federation
has limited power over other member datu,
but no direct control over the subjects or
lands of the other datu.Thus Magellan believed
that since Rajah Humabon was the "king" of
Cebu, he was the king of Mactan as well. But
the island of Mactan, the dominion of Lapu-Lapu
and Zula, was in a location that enabled them
to intercept trade ships entering the harbor
of Cebu, Humabon's domain. Thus it was more
likely that Lapu-Lapu was actually more powerful
than Humabon, or at least was the undisputed
ruler of Mactan. Humabon was married to Lapu-Lapu's
niece. When Magellan demanded that Lapu-Lapu
submit as his "king" Humabon had done, Lapu-Lapu
purportedly replied that: "he was unwilling
to come and do reverence to one whom he had
been commanding for so long a time".The Aginid
chronicle also records that Humabon had actually
purposefully goaded the Spaniards into fighting
Lapu-Lapu, who was his enemy at that time.
However, the men of Humabon who accompanied
Magellan did not engage in battle with Lapu-Lapu,
though they helped with recovering the wounded
Spaniards. Humabon later poisoned and killed
twenty-seven Spanish sailors during a feast.
According to the Aginid, this was because
they had started raping the local women. It
was also possibly to aid Magellan's Malay
slave interpreter, Enrique of Malacca, in
gaining his freedom. The Spanish were refusing
to release him, even though Magellan explicitly
willed that he be set free upon his death.
A discourse by Giovanni Battista Ramusio also
claims that Enrique warned the Chief of "Subuth"
that the Spaniards were plotting to capture
the king and that this led to the murder of
the Spaniards at the banquet. Enrique stayed
in Cebu with Humabon while the Spanish escaped
to Bohol.The battle left the expedition with
too few men to crew three ships, so they abandoned
the "Concepción". The remaining ships – "Trinidad"
and "Victoria" – sailed to the Spice Islands
in present-day Indonesia. From there, the
expedition split into two groups. The Trinidad,
commanded by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinoza tried
to sail eastward across the Pacific Ocean
to the Isthmus of Panama. Disease and shipwreck
disrupted Espinoza's voyage and most of the
crew died. Survivors of the Trinidad returned
to the Spice Islands, where the Portuguese
imprisoned them. The Victoria continued sailing
westward, commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano,
and managed to return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda,
Spain in 1522. In 1529, Charles I of Spain
relinquished all claim over the Spice Islands
to Portugal in the treaty of Zaragoza. However,
the treaty did not stop the colonization of
the Philippine archipelago from New Spain.According
to Aginid, Lapu-Lapu and Humabon restored
friendly relations after the Battle of Mactan.
Lapu-Lapu later decided to return to Borneo
with eleven of his children, three of his
wives, and seventeen of his men. Nothing more
is known of him after this.After Magellan's
voyage, subsequent expeditions were dispatched
to the islands. Five expeditions were sent:
Loaisa (1525), Cabot (1526), Saavedra (1527),
Villalobos (1542), and Legazpi (1564). The
Legazpi expedition was the most successful,
resulting in the colonization of the islands.
== Religion ==
Lapu-Lapu's religion and beliefs are another
subject of debate. The inhabitants of the
Sulu archipelago believe that Lapu-Lapu was
a Muslim of the Tausūg or the Sama-Bajau
people. Some also believe that Lapu-Lapu and
Rajah Humabon were the founders of a Muslim
Rajahnate of Cebu (as the "Sultanate of Cebu");
or at least that Lapu-Lapu had founded a colony
of the Sultanate of Sulu in Cebu Island, existing
alongside the Rajahnate of Cebu with the consent
of Humabon. However, archaeology disputes
the claim as prominent Cebuano anthropologist
Jose Eleazar Bersales noted on an excavation
in southern Cebu that “Cebu was never Islamized.”
Further studies of the ancient tradition as
discussed in the previous section, the Sugbuanon
epic also suggests otherwise as records the
founder of the Rajahnate of Cebu as Sri Lumay,
who was the grandfather of Rajah Humabon,
and a prince of the Indianized Chola dynasty.Ultimately,
it is undoubtedly suggested that the Cebuanos
were predominantly animist (not unlike the
Mindanao Lumad) or Indianized (like the contemporary
Kingdom of Butuan) on the arrival of the Spanish.A
school of thought also suggests that Lapu-Lapu
may have been from Borneo, according to one
account, recorded in the Aginid as being an
orang laut ("man of the sea") and an outsider
who settled in Cebu from "Borneo". The Oponganon-Cebuano
oral tradition effectively disputed the claim
saying his father was Datu Mangal, the ruler
of Mactan before him indicated that Lapu-lapu
a native of Opong.The Visayans were noted
for their widespread practice of tattooing;
Spaniards referred to them as the Pintados.
Pigafetta, who recorded Magellan's encounter
with the Cebuanos, explicitly described Rajah
Humabon as tattooed. He also records the consumption
of pork, dog meat, and palm wine (arak) by
the Cebuanos, as well as the common custom
of penile piercings (tugbuk or sakra). Tattooing,
body modification, pork, dog meat, and alcohol
are haram (forbidden) in Islam.The supreme
god of the religion of the Visayans, when
explicitly recorded by contemporary historians,
was identified as "Abba" by Pigafetta and
"Kan-Laon" (also spelled "Laon") by the Jesuit
historian Pedro Chirino in 1604, comparable
to the Tagalog "Bathala". There is no mention
of Islam. This is in contrast to the other
locations visited by the Magellan expedition
where Pigafetta readily identifies the Muslims
whom they encountered; he would call them
Moros after the Muslim Moors of medieval Spain
and northern Africa, to distinguish them from
the polytheistic "heathens". In fact, during
the mass baptism of the Cebuanos to Christianity,
he clearly identifies them as "heathens,"
not Moros:
We set up the cross there for those people
were heathen. Had they been Moros, we would
have erected a column there as a token of
greater hardness, for the Moros are much harder
to convert than the heathen.
Indeed, the Visayans were noted for their
resistance to conversion to Islam in the epic
poem Diyandi of the Aginid chronicle. The
name of the capital city of the island (Sugbo,
"conflagration" or "blaze") was derived from
the method of defense used by the natives
against Moro raiders from Mindanao, which
was to burn their settlements to the ground
to prevent looting. They referred to the raiders
as Magalos ("destroyers of peace"). Furthermore,
direct evidences such as accounts of Pigafetta
and the native oral tradition did not indicate
Lapu-lapu as a Muslim but a Visayan animist
and a Sugbuanon native.
== Legacy ==
Lapu-Lapu is regarded, retroactively, as the
first Filipino hero. The government erected
a statue in his honor on Mactan Island and
renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu
City. A large statue of him, donated by South
Korea, stands in the middle of Agrifina Circle
in Rizal Park in Manila, replacing a fountain
and rollerskating rink. Lapu-Lapu appears
on the official seal of the Philippine National
Police. His face was used as the main design
on the 1-centavo coin that was circulated
in the Philippines from 1967 to 1974.According
to local legend, Lapu-Lapu never died but
was turned into stone, and has since then
been guarding the seas of Mactan. Fishermen
in the island city would throw coins at a
stone shaped like a man as a way of asking
for permission to fish in the monarch’s
territory. Another urban legend concerns the
statue of Lapu-Lapu erected at the center
of the town plaza. The statue faced the old
city hall, where mayors used to hold office;
Lapu-Lapu was shown with a crossbow in the
stance of shooting an enemy. Superstitious
citizens proposed to replace this crossbow
with a sword, after three consecutive mayors
of the city each died of heart attack.In the
United States, a street in the South of Market
neighborhood of San Francisco, California
is named after Lapu-Lapu. That street and
others in the immediate neighborhood were
renamed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
with names derived from historical Filipino
heroes on August 31, 1979.During the First
Regular Season of the 14th Congress of the
Philippines, Senator Richard Gordon introduced
a bill proposing to declare April 27 as an
official Philippine national holiday to be
known as Aldo ni Lapu-Lapu, (Cebuano, "Day
of Lapu-Lapu").On April 27, 2017, President
Rodrigo Duterte declared April 27 (the date
when Battle of Mactan happened) as Lapu-Lapu
Day for honoring as the first hero in the
country who defeated foreign rule. Duterte
also signed the creation of "Order of Lapu-Lapu"
earlier in April 7, to recognize the government
workers and private citizens on supporting
his advocacies.
== In popular culture ==
Portrayed by Mario Montenegro in the 1955
film, Lapu-Lapu.
Portrayed by Lito Lapid in the 2002 film,
Lapu-Lapu.
A playable character in the mobile game Mobile
Legends: Bang Bang.
== Shrine ==
The Lapu-Lapu shrine is a 20 metres (66 ft)
bronze statue in Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu,
Cebu, Philippines.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. "Magellan and Lapu-Lapu".
Fookien Times Yearbook, 1965, p. 634
Alcina, Francisco, Historia de las Islas e
Indios de Bisaya, MS 1668
Correa, Gaspar, Lendas de India, Vol. 2, p.
630
Cruz, Gemma, "Making Little Hero of Maktan"
Estabaya, D. M., "445 Years of Lapu-lapu",
Weekly nation 1: 26-27, April 25, 1966
Pigafetta, Antonio, Primo Viaje en Torno al
Globo Terraqueo, Corredato di Notte de Carlo
Amoteti, Milano, 1800
== External links ==
Lapu-Lapu
Lapu-Lapu (1955) IMDb
Lapu-Lapu (2002) IMDb
Lapu-Lapu - Philippine Warrior (video)
