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Lapu-Lapu

Lapu-Lapu is also the name of the grouper fish in the Philippines. For the city, see Lapu-Lapu City.

Lapu-Lapu was a native Muslim chieftain on Mactan and a representative of the the Sultan of Sulu, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first national hero of the Philippines.^{[citation needed]}

On the morning of April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu and the men of Mactan, armed with spears and kampilan, faced Spanish soldiers led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. In what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, Magellan and several of his men were killed.

In his honor, the Cebuano people have erected a statue on Mactan and also renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City. A more recent statue was given as a gift to the Philippines from South Korea in 2005. It stands in Rizal Park in the national capital of Manila.^{[1][dead link]}

Legend

According to folklore, Lapu-Lapu was the son of Datu Mangal ang Matang Matun-as. He had a sister named Mingming.

Datu Mangal possessed a talisman in the form of an oil, which gave the bearer incredible strength. A captain from the Northern town of Cebu, Silyo, came by to borrow Datu Mangal's talisman to be used in the fight with a promise to return it on his way back. But after the fight Capitan Silyo did not return the talisman to Datu Mangal. Mangal waited for Capitan Silyo, but the boat of Capitan Silyo just passed by Mactan. In a fit Datu Mangal unleashed a curse that transformed Capitan Silyo into stone. With his last breath, Captain Silyo cursed Mangal in turn, but only half of Mangal became stone.^{[citation needed]}

There is an island of the coast of Northern Cebu shaped is like a boat, and the island is named Capitansilyo.^{[citation needed]}

In Filipino culture

• A type of red grouper indigenous to the Philippines is commonly known as "lapu-lapu."^[2]
• Lapu-Lapu appears as a central figure in the official seal of the Philippine National Police.^[3]
• Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail is an alcoholic drink named in his honor.^[4][5]
• Lapu-Lapu appears as the main design on the defunct 1-centavo coin circulated in the Philippines from 1967-1974.^[6]
• Lapu-Lapu is a 2002 film,^[7] a remake of 1955 independent Filipino film.^[8]

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.