Lapu-Lapu

:"Lapu-Lapu is also the name of the grouper fish in the Philippines. For the city, see Lapu-Lapu City."Infobox Person
name = Lapu-Lapu


caption = Lapu-Lapu's statue on Mactan Island in the Philippines
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
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known_for = commanding Visayan forces that killed Ferdinand Magellan
occupation = Chieftain
nationality = Filipino

Lapu-Lapu was the king of Mactan, an island in the Visayas, Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first Filipino hero. [cite book | last =Zaide | first =Sonia M. | authorlink = Gregorio F. Zaide| title =The Philippines:A Unique Nation | publisher =All Nations Publishing Co., Inc. | date =1994 | pages =83-84 | isbn =971-642-005-6 ]

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.

According to Sulu oral tradition, Lapu-Lapu was a Muslim chieftain,cite news | title =Lapu-Lapu and the Battle of Mactan | pages = | publisher =The Manila Bulletin Online | date = 2001 |url =http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/04/27/OPED200404278218.html | accessdate = 2008-07-09] and was also known as "Kaliph Pulaka".cite web | last =Ang | first =Josiah C. | title =Historical Timeline of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu Including Related Events of Neighboring Peoples | url=http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/MuslimMindanao/historical_timeline_of_the_royal.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-11] The people of Bangsamoro, the Moro homeland in the Philippines, consider him to be a Muslim and a member of the Tausug ethnic group.cite web | last = | first = | title =Lapu-Lapu and the battle of Mactan | url=http://www.bangsamoro.info/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=33 | accessdate = 2008-08-07] A variant of the name, as written by Carlos Calao, a 17th century Chinese-Spanish poet in his poem "Que Dios Le Perdone" (Spanish, "That God May Forgive Him") is "Cali Pulacu". [cite book | last =Halili | first =Ma. Christine N. | title =Philippine History | publisher =REX Bookstore, Inc. | date =2004 | pages =74 | isbn =978-971-23-3934-9 ]

The 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence refers to Lapu-Lapu as "King Kalipulako de Maktan". [cite book | last =Kalaw | first =Maximo M. | title = The development of Philippine politics |date= 2005 |origdate= c.1920 |publisher= University of Michigan Library |chapter=Appendix A: Act of the Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People (Spanish-to-English translation culled from John Taylor's "Philippine Insurgent Records")| chapterurl=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&idno=afj2233.0001.001&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=433 |quote= Hernando de Magallanes, who arrived upon the shores of Cebu, ...was killed in the battle which took place on said shores, to which he was provoked by King Kalipulako de Maktan, who was suspicious of his bad intentions... |accessdate = 2008-07-31] In the 19th century, the reformist Mariano Ponce used a variant name, "Kalipulako", as one of his pseudonyms.cite web | title =Bulacan, Philippines: General Info: Heroes and Patriots: Mariano Ponce|url=http://www.bulacan.gov.ph/generalinfo/hero.php?id=32 | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

Commemoration

The Cebuano people have erected a statue in his honor on Mactan and renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City. A more recent statue was given as a gift to the Philippines by South Korea in 2005. It stands in Rizal Park in the national capital of Manila.cite web |title =Gordon, Garcia recall victory at Mactan, honor Lapu-Lapu | url=http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2008/0427_gordon1.asp | accessdate = 2008-07-09]

Lapu-Lapu appears as a central figure in the official seal of the Philippine National Police [cite web | last = | first = | title = PNP Seal Symbolism | url=http://www.pnp.gov.ph/about/content/seal.html | accessdate = 2008-06-09] and as the main design on the defunct 1-centavo coin circulated in the Philippines from 1967-1974. [cite web | last = | first = | title =American Numismatic Society | url=http://numismatics.org/collection/2004.9.7460 | accessdate = 2008-06-10]

During the First Regular Session of the 14th Congress of the Philippines, Senator Richard Gordon introduced a bill proposing to declare April 27 as an official national holiday to be known as "Adlaw ni Lapu-Lapu" or Lapu-Lapu Day. [cite web | last =Gordon | first =Richard J. | title =An Act to declare April 27 of every year as a special non-working holiday throughout the country to commemorate the victory of Lapu-Lapu and his men over the Spaniards led by Fernando Magallanes... | url=http://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/70996341!.pdf | accessdate = 2008-07-11]

A type of red grouper indigenous to the Philippines is commonly known as "lapu-lapu" [cite news | last = | first = | title =Lucky lapu-lapu, ATV, boatmen and rice | pages = | publisher =GMANews.tv | date = 2008-04-12 |url =http://www.gmanews.tv/story/88641/Lucky-lapu-lapu-ATV-boatmen-and-rice | accessdate = 2008-06-09] in the Tagalog-speaking provinces but more commonly known in the Visayas and Mindanao as "pugapo".

Two Filipino films, both called "Lapu-Lapu", have been made about the figure - the first in 1955 [cite web | last = | first = | title =Lapu-Lapu (1955) | url=http://www.kabayancentral.com/video/lvn/cplvnll.html | accessdate = 2008-06-10] and the second in 2002.cite web | last = | first = | title =Lapu-Lapu (2002) | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345547/ | accessdate = 2008-06-10] The latter stars actor-turned-politician Lito Lapid and Joyce Jimenez.

Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail is an alcoholic drink named in his honor. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Cocktail of the Day: Chief Lapu Lapu | url=http://tikijohnny.com/?p=35 | accessdate = 2008-06-09] [cite web | last =Williams | first =Nicole Prentice | title =Locals Only | url=http://www.rachaelraymag.com/travel-tips/best-trips/locals-only/locals-only---laguna-beach/article.html | accessdate = 2008-06-09]

A street in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco is named after Lapu-Lapu. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Lapu Lapu Street in San Francisco | url=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lapu+lapu+street+san+Francisco&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&t=h&z=17&iwloc=addr | accessdate = 2008-08-13]

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.

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