Lapulapu[2][3][4] or Lapu-Lapu (fl.

1521), whose name was first recorded as Çilapulapu or

Cilapulapu,[5] was a datu of Mactan in the Visayas. Modern Philippine society regards him as
the first Filipino hero because he was the first native of the Philippines tough enough to resist
and fought of the imperial Spanish colonization. He is best known for the Battle of Mactan that
happened at dawn on April 27, 1521, where he and his warriors defeated the forces of Portuguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his native allies Rajah Humabon and Datu Zula.[6][7] Magellan's
death ended his voyage of circumnavigation and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands
by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564 which he continued
the adventure of lapu lapu and colonize the Pinas again where more filipino heroes like Jose
Rizal and Andres Bonifacio fought of the spaniards again to make pinas indepent. Monuments of
Lapulapu have been built in Cebu and Manila, to continue Lapu lapus honor showing his bravery
against the spaniards 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 neighboring Cebu, very little is reliably known about
the life of Lapulapu. The only existing primary source mentioning him by name is the account of
Antonio Pigafetta, and according to historian Resil B. Mojares, no European who left a primary
record of Magellan's voyage "knew what he looked like, heard him speak (his recorded words of
defiance and pride are all indirect, reportebattlech), or mentioned that he was present in the battle
of mactan that made him famous."[8] His name, origins, religion, and fate are still a matter of
controversy.

Contents
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 (Mactan), the chiefs Zula and Cilapulapu[5] or Çilapulapu.[2]
Pigafetta's account of Magellan's voyage, which contains the only mention of Lapulapu by name
in an undisputed primary source, exists in several variant manuscripts and print editions, the
earliest dating to around 1524.

In an annotation for his 1890 edition of Antonio de Morga's 1609 Sucesos de las islas Filipinas,
José Rizal spells the name as Si Lapulapu. This supplements a passage where Morga mentions
Magellan's death in Mactan, but does not mention the Mactan leader by name.[9] In Philippine
languages, si (plural siná) is an article used to indicate personal names. Thus Si Lapulapu, as
rendered by Rizal, was subsequently interpreted by others to mean this way (though Rizal never
explicitly asserts this himself) and the Si was dropped, eventually cementing the Mactan leader's
name in Filipino culture as Lapulapu or Lapu-Lapu (e.g. Siya si Lapulapu "He is Lapulapu" vs.
Siya si Si Lapulapu "He is Si Lapulapu"). However, this meaning for Si or Ci in Lapulapu's
recorded name is doubtful because other names recorded by Pigafetta do not contain it. In an
annotation of his 1800 edition of Pigafetta's account, Carlo Amoretti surmised that the Si or Ci
found in several native names recorded by Pigafetta was an honorific title.[5] E. P. Patanñe (1999)
thus proposes that this usage of Si was derived from a corruption of the Sanskrit title Sri.[10]

In 1604, Fr. Prudencio de Sandoval in his Historia de la Vida y Hechos del Emperador Carlos V
spelled the name as Calipulapo, perhaps through transposing the first A and I.[11] This further
became Cali Pulaco in the 1614 poem Que Dios le perdone (May God Forgive Him) by mestizo
de sangley poet Carlos Calao.[12] This rendition, spelled as Kalipulako, was later adopted as one
of the pseudonyms of the Philippine hero, Mariano Ponce, during the Propaganda Movement.[13]
The 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence of Cavite II el Viejo, also mentions Lapulapu
under the name Rey Kalipulako de Manktan [sic] (King Kalipulako of Mactan).[14][15] This name
variation has further led to claims that Lapulapu was a Caliph and thus Muslim, whereas
Pigafetta notes that the region was not Islamized.

In 2019, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines' National Quincentennial

Committee, tasked with handling preparations for the 500th anniversary commemoration of
Magellan's arrival, stated that Lapulapu without the hyphen is the correct spelling of the Mactan
ruler's name, being based on Pigafetta's original spelling, which they took to be Çilapulapu. The
committee agreed with previous scholarship that the Si in his name reported by Pigafetta
probably was an indigenous form of the Hindu honorific Sri, so Lapulapu would probably have
been called Si Lapulapu.[2]

The Aginid chronicle, whose historicity is doubtful,[16] calls him Lapulapu Dimantag.[16][17]

Early life

Mactan Island in Cebu

There had been many folk accounts surrounding Lapulapu’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 Lapulapu.[18]

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 known 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").[17]

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).[17] 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.[17]

According to the epic Aginid, this was the period in which Lapulapu (as Lapulapu Dimantag)
was first recorded as arriving from "Borneo" (Sabah). 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 Lapulapu'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.
[17]

The relationship between Lapulapu and Humabon later deteriorated when Lapulapu 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".[17]

Battle of Mactan

Lapulapu 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 Lapulapu refused.[19]

A depiction of the Battle of Mactan in the Magellan shrine

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 Lapulapu armed with iron swords,[note 1] bows, and "bamboo" spears.[note 2]

Magellan repeated his offer not to attack them if Lapulapu swore fealty to Rajah Humabon,
obeyed the Spanish king, and paid tribute, which Lapulapu again rejected. At the taunting
request of Lapulapu, 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 Lapulapu's forces.
They set fire to a few houses on the shore in an attempt to scare them. Instead, Lapulapu'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. 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 escaped to the waiting ships.[19][20]

Illustration from Antonio Pigafetta's journal showing Cebu, Mactan, and Bohol; with a label indicating
that the "Capitaine general" died on Mactan (c. 1525)

The historian William Henry Scott believes that Lapulapu'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 another member datu, but no direct
control over the subjects or lands of the other datu.[21]

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 Lapulapu 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 Lapulapu was actually more powerful than Humabon, or at least was the
undisputed ruler of Mactan. Humabon was married to Lapulapu's niece. When Magellan
demanded that Lapulapu submit as his "king" Humabon had done, Lapulapu purportedly replied
that: "he was unwilling to come and do reverence to one whom he had been commanding for so
long a time".[21]

The Aginid chronicle also records that Humabon had actually purposefully goaded the Spaniards
into fighting Lapulapu, who was his enemy at that time. However, the men of Humabon who
accompanied Magellan did not engage in battle with Lapulapu, 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.[17][19] 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.[22] Enrique stayed in Cebu
with Humabon while the Spanish escaped to Bohol.[17][19]

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.
[23]

According to Aginid, Lapulapu and Humabon restored friendly relations after the Battle of
Mactan. Lapulapu 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.[17]

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).[24] The Legazpi expedition was the most successful, resulting in the colonization
of the islands