Features

Chief Lapulapu”s (1491-1542) other name is Kolipulako. The hero of Mactan and conqueror of Magellan, is described as stern, proud, intelligent, unyielding. He waged continuous war against the powerful ruler of Cebu, then a very much greater kingdom than his little island of Maktang. Of him, President Gullas of the University of the Visayas writes:

“Lapulapu is a good example of determination and willingness to work well. He learned how to ride on a horseback and on carabao proficiently at the age of six years; knew how to read and write at seven; boxed well at nine; became a champion swimmer, boxer and wrestler at eighteen; beat the Bornean marauders and pirates twice at twenty.” In the lives of men who have almost become legendary one finds it diffucult to separate fact from fiction. This must be true in the case of the material quoted above.

History has it that Mactan Island although small was a thriving community when the great Magellan was in Cebu. The brave Spanish navigator and soldier, upon learning that some inhabitants on this tiny island across Cebu refused to recognize the King of Spain, burned one of the villages. Lapulapu was one of he native leaders who refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of Spain over the Islands.

When Magellan, “with three boatloads of Spaniards and twenty boatloads of Cebuanos” went to Mactan to help a friendly chief, Lapulapu and his men armed with native fighting elements - wooden shields, bows and arrows, lances - met them. The invading Spaniards and Cebuanos were driven back to their boats, but their brace leader, Magellan, net death in the hands of Lapulapu. On what is believed to be the exact spot where Magellan fell and died, now stands an imposing monument in honor of the gallant explorer.

In the well-kept plaza of Opon, one of the two towns on Mactan Island, stands today an inspiring monument in honor of Lapulapu, considered the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.

Photos

Bibliography

http://living.cebunetwork.com/article/battle-of-mactan-shrine/
http://www.wetloop.com/mactan_kadaugan/kadaugan.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan

Kadaugan sa Mactan

The world remembers April 27, 1521 as the date when the famous battle between Datu Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan took place in the historic shores of Mactan. The day has since been acknowledged as one of the single brightest moments in Philippine history, having dramatized the Filipino's quest for freedom and independence from foreign rule.

Recognizing its significance as a national historical landmark, Republic Act No. 5695 provided for the establishment of a national shrine in the City of Lapu-Lapu, Province of Cebu to be known as the Liberty Shrine. Subsequently, the annual re-enactment of the famous event, now dubbed as Kadaugan sa Mactan has been prominently featured as the only international event in the Philippine Tourism Calendar. Since its first organized re-enactment in 1980, the Kadaugan sa Mactan has gradually waned in prominence as national historical commemoration. What started out as a grand re-enactment that people looked forward to had somewhat decreased in grandeur and magnitude over the years. In the place of what was once a proud celebration, the annual event has become more of a routine exercise that has obviously seen better days.

Moreover, while the Kadaugan sa Mactan is a noble endeavor that seeks to promote a historical significant event, there is an apparent need to improve its substance and form. For one, spectators have to comprehend the series of historical circumstances surrounding the celebration. In so doing, they will have a better appreciation of the dreams and aspirations that continue to shape their destiny today.

Legends

According to Visayan folklore, Datu Lapu-Lapu’s acts of bravery have generated legends about how he defeated the Spanish forces with their powerful artillery.

Natives believe that the chieftain did not die, and has been turned into a stone, and is forever guarding the seas of Mactan. Fishermen in the island city throw coins at a stone shaped like a man as a way of asking for permission to fish in the chieftain’s territory.

Another story passed on by the natives of the land says Datu Lapu-Lapu became the statue placed on a pedestal at the center of the plaza. The statue faces the old city hall building where the mayors used to hold office and once held a crossbow in the immortal stance of someone about to shoot an arrow at an enemy. The people of the city decided to change this crossbow with a bolo after a succession of three mayors died due to a heart attack.

The First Philippine Hero

Today, Datu Lapu-Lapu is retroactively honored as the first "Philippine national hero" to resist foreign rule, though formally the territory of the "Philippine Islands" had yet to be established or even named at the time. He is remembered by a number of commemorations: a monument on the island of Mactan, a city bearing his name, and a statue at the Cebu Provincial Capitol. The battle is re-enacted during its anniversary. There is a spot in Lapu-Lapu city in Mactan Island that is revered by the islanders. A marker says it was on that site that a man who had sought dominion over the island in the name of the Spanish king had died in the hands of the brave warrior chieftain, Lapu-Lapu, four hundred eighty five years ago.

Magellan is also honored for bringing Christianity to the Philippines, a large monument known as the Magellan's Cross, and the Magellan's shrine has been erected in his legacy in Cebu City, and Mactan Island.

A local variety of red grouper is called Lapu-Lapu, named after the chieftain. Actor-turned-politician Lito Lapid starred in a film called "Lapu-Lapu", and novelty singer Yoyoy Villame wrote a folk song entitled "Magellan" that tells the story of the Battle of Mactan.

The Battle

According to the documents of Italian historian Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan deployed forty-nine armored men with swords, axes, shields, crossbows and guns, and sailed for Mactan in the morning of April 28. Filipino historians note that because of the rocky outcroppings, and corals near the beach, the Spaniards could not land on Mactan. Forced to anchor their ships far from shore, Magellan could not bring his ships' firepower to bear on Datu Lapu-Lapu's warriors, who numbered more than 1,500.

"When morning came, forty-nine of us leaped into the water up to our thighs, and walked through water for more than two cross-bow flights before we could reach the shore. The boats could not approach nearer because of certain rocks in the water. The other eleven men remained behind to guard the boats. When we reached land, [the natives] had formed in three divisions to the number of more than one thousand five hundred persons. When they saw us, they charged down upon us with exceeding loud cries... The musketeers and crossbow-men shot from a distance for about a half-hour, but uselessly..."

Magellan then tried to scare them off by burning some houses in what is now the Barangay of Buaya, known then as Bulaia.

"Seeing that, the captain-general sent some men to burn their houses in order to terrify them. When they saw their houses burning, they were roused to greater fury. Two of our men were killed near the houses, while we burned twenty or thirty houses. So many of them charged down upon us that they shot the captain through the right leg with a poisoned arrow. On that account, he ordered us to retire slowly, but the men took to flight, except six or eight of us who remained with the captain. The natives shot only at our legs, for the latter were bare; and so many were the spears and stones that they hurled at us, that we could offer no resistance. The mortars in the boats could not aid us as they were too far away."

Many of the warriors attacked Magellan; he was wounded in the arm with a spear and in the leg by a kampilan. With this advantage, the people of Mactan finally overpowered, and killed him. He was stabbed, and hacked by spears and swords. Pigafetta and the others managed to escape,
Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice... An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the Indian's body. Then, trying to lay hand on sword, he could draw it out but halfway, because he had been wounded in the arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide. When they wounded him, he turned back many times to see whether we were all in the boats. Thereupon, beholding him dead, we, wounded, retreated, as best we could, to the boats, which were already pulling off...

According to Pigafetta, several of Magellan’s men were killed in battle, and a number of converted Christian Indians who had come to their aid, were killed by warriors, and soldiers. There are no official records of the number of casualties in the battle.

Magellan's allie, Rajah Humabon, and Datu Zula were said not to have taken part in the battle due to Magellan's bidding, and watched from a distance. Some of the Spaniards who survived the battle returned to Cebu, and while attending a feast given by Rajah Humabon, were poisoned. The natives acted this way due to the actions of some indigenous women being raped by the Spaniards. Magellan’s body, however, was never recovered from the natives. Pigafetta reports that the Christian king sent a message saying that if they return the bodies of Magellan and his crew, they would give as much merchandise as they wished. However, they refused saying that they would not return the body in exchange for all the riches in the world for they intended to keep him as a memorial.

Magellan was succeeded by Juan Sebastián Elcano as commander of the expedition. Elcano and his fleet sailed west and returned to Spain in 1522, completing the first circumnavigation of the world.

Battle of Mactan: History and Myth

There is a spot in Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan island that’s revered by islanders more than any other place. A marker says it was on that site that a man who had sought dominion over the island in the name of the Spanish king had died in the hands of the brave warrior chieftain Lapu-Lapu 485 years ago.

Lapu-Lapu’s deed is fact but it spawned legends about the man–how he defeated the Spanish forces with their powerful artillery (guns, swords, cannons, cross-bows, body armor) and killed their leader Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan–and what became of him.

It is said in the island that the chieftain did not die or that at least nobody ever saw him die and the islanders believe he has been turned into a stone and is forever guarding the seas of Mactan. Fishermen in the island city point to a stone shaped like a man in the deep and they throw coins at it as a way of asking permission to fish in the chieftain’s seas.

Another popular story passed on from generation to generation of island residents says Lapu-Lapu became the statue placed on a pedestal at the center of the city plaza. This statue faces the old City Hall building, where the mayors used to hold office, and once held a crossbow in the immortal stance of someone about to shoot an arrow at an enemy. The people decided to replace Lapu-Lapu’s crossbow with a bolo after three mayors of the city died one after the other from a heart attack.

One of the folklore about Lapu-Lapu also tells of a man forewarned about the attack. In a council with other people in the tribe over the coming battle, Lapu-Lapu reportedly took his pestle and said he was going to throw it hard and if it would go through three coconut trees then they had nothing to fear because they were going to win. It did and the rest is history and myth.

The place where Lapu-Lapu and his men triumphed over the Spanish invaders on April 27, 1521 has been turned into a shrine. The shrine sits along the boundaries of the villages of Punta Engaño and Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City on the island of Mactan.

Magellan had come to Cebu through Homonhon, an uninhabited island in the province of Eastern Samar. There, he and his crew were sighted by Rajah Calambu of Limasawa and he guided them to Cebu on April 7.

In Cebu, Magellan became friends with Rajah Humabon who prevailed upon the Portuguese explorer to go to Mactan and punish Lapu-Lapu. It is widely believed that Humabon was at odds with Lapu-Lapu and that they fought over control of land.

Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of Magellan’s trip, survived the battle in Mactan and told of how they were overwhelmingly overpowered on the island’s shores by at least 1,500 native warriors, a report that has been held by historians as questionable and grossly exaggerated.

Three monuments in the Mactan Shrine are worthy of note: the Magellan Marker, the Magellan monument, and chieftain Lapu-Lapu’s statue.

A note written in the marker, shaped like a large headstone, says it was on that spot that Magellan fell dead in the hands of Lapu-Lapu. A little farther away is a monument to Magellan, an obelisk on a base of several levels said to have been built in 1866 during the administration of Augustinian priest Simon Aguirre, who was cura of Opon (the old name of Lapu-Lapu City) in 1857-71.

As early as December 1840, Spanish Governor-General Francisco Alcala had approved a plan to construct a monument in honor of Magellan. The circumstances of this monument’s construction was not clear but Karl von Scherzer, a member of an Austrian naval expedition who visited the Philippines in 1858, wrote about a monument to Magellan on the promontory of Punta Engaño. Historians believe this does not refer to the obelisk that is now in the shrine.
Also within the Mactan Shrine is a statue of chieftain Lapu-Lapu holding a bolo in one hand and a shield in the other. The shrine that houses the three monuments doubles as a plaza that locals and tourists frequent.

The shrine is host to the annual Kadaugan sa Mactan celebration by the Lapu-Lapu City Government. The celebration commemorates the battle for Mactan and is held in the shores near the shrine every April.

Community Profile

Province: Lapu-Lapu
Area: 64.22 sq. km.
Population: 292, 530
Density: 4,555.12/sq. km.
Region: Region VII (CENTRAL VISAYAS)

The City of Lapu-Lapu is a 1st class highly-urbanized city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. The city occupies most of Mactan Island, one kilometer off of mainland Cebu Island, and also covers the whole of Olango Island five kilometers further to the southeast plus a few other islets. It is part of the larger Cebu Metropolitan Area which is centered on Cebu City. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 292,530 people.

The city is linked to Mandaue City on mainland Cebu by the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge and Marcelo Fernan Bridge. Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the second busiest airport in the Philippines, is located in Lapu-Lapu City. The only aquarium attraction in the Visayas is also located in Lapu-lapu City.

The area of the present city was called Mactan before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers. Augustinians then founded the town of Opon in 1730. The town was made into a city in 1961 and renamed after Lapu-Lapu, the native Filipino who defeated Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. This battle is commemorated at the Lapu-Lapu shrine.

Congressman Manuel A. Zosa, the representative of the Sixth District of Cebu, sponsored the Bill converting the former municipality of Opon into the present day City of Lapu-Lapu. This was the Republic Act 3134, known as the City Charter of Lapu-Lapu which was signed on June 17, 1961 by president Carlos P. Garcia.

Team Profile

Adviser: Mr. Donald Dungog
Coach: Mr. Donald Dungog

Researchers/Writers:
Lady Faith Berdin
Anke Christian Tiu
Jowls Fell Acuña

Photographers:
Jowls Fell Acuña
Anke Christian Tiu
Lady Faith Berdin

Methodology

The team conducted an intensive research on the history of the “Bahugbahug” or Kadaugan sa Mactan (Victory at Mactan) and the different priciples behind the festival in line with Datu Lapu-Lapu's victory. The group gathered informations from existing publications and related articles about the festival, and the persons behind the annual “Bahugbahug” Festival. The group also conducted interviews with various Oponganons who have lived to see the annual festival for a couple of years already.

Project Description

This Focus Story entitled “Ang Unang Bayani” is an entry for the “Doon Po Sa Amin” Learning Challenge under the Arts & Culture Topic Category. The story is a narrative about the first ever revolt against the foreign conquerors in the shores of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City which is now celebrated as an annual festival in the city known as Kadaugan sa Mactan (Victory of Mactan). Moreover, it pays tribute to the victory of the first ever Filipino hero – Datu Lapu-Lapu for defending our shores from the foreign colonizers.