Is regarded as the first national hero of the Philippine Islands for the defeat of the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, flying the under Spanish flag. He is categorized as a Muslim ruler of the Tausug tribe in an Island called Mactan as chronicled under the Sulu Sultanates. He may have held the title of Datu Sadja as he did not have a lineage to hold the higher title of Datu Sultanan, though since datu is a general term for a leader he may officially have just held the title of Timway which meant "chief". His animist background is purely speculative and there is no evidence which supports this. There is also no evidence that he practiced any form of the martial system known as kali/arnis/eskrima. This is propagated by FMA(Filipino Martial Arts) and cultural enthusiasts alike. There is evidence that natives had their own system of fighting with bladed weapons, which later led to the banishment of bladed weapons by the Spanish. Lapu-Lapu carried a Kampilan sword which is more a status symbol though could also have been used for combat, even if a little sluggishly. Lapu Lapu had an enemy in the Island of Cebu named Rajah Humabon.
Rajah Humabon aka Sri Humabor(Sri being a Hindu honorific in place of Rajah) is the son of Sri Bantug and the grandson of Sri Lumaya. Sri Lumay or Rajamuda Lumaya was a minor prince of the Chola dynasty occupying Sumatra. He was sent on a mission by the Maharajah(Great King) to set up a base for expeditionary forces but he rebelled and set up his own independent Rajahnate in the Island of Sugbu(Cebu). His sons ruled their own lands. His youngest son, Sri Bantug ruled the kingdom of Singhapala which is now present day Cebu City. Sri Humabon inherited this kingdom as well as his uncle Sri Parangs' kingdom. Humabon ruled in accordance to Hindu tradition while Lapu Lapu ruled in accordance to Muslim tradition.
When Magellan had arrived with his fleet; the Concepcion, San Antonio, Victoria, Santiago, and his flagship Trinidad all flying under the Spanish flag in March of 1521 AD and impressed Humabon with their front loading muskets and canons, Humabon decreed that all nearby chiefs will provide food and supplies for the Spanish ships and convert to Christianity. Lapu Lapu was under the jurisdiction of the Muslim Sultanate of Sulu , not the Hindu Rajahnate of Humabons' grandfather Rajamuda Lumaya, so he refused the orders of Humabon. Raja Humabon and Datu Zula suggested that Magellan bring his advanced equipment to Mactan Island and force Lapu Lapu to comply. Magellan had initially wanted to convert Lapu Lapu like he did Humabon but Lapu Lapu would have none of it and so Magellan told Humabon and Zula to watch from a distance and on the morning of April 27, 1521 he and 48 Europeans marched on Mactan Island.
"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 people.
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... Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice... A native hurled a bamboo spear at the captain's face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the native'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." "The Death of Magellan, 1521". Eyewitnesstohistory.com That was from Magellans' chroniclers, Antonio Pigafetta and Gines de Mafras', translated written documents of the battle of Mactan and are the only surviving documents detailing this event.
"Nothing of Magellan's body survived, that afternoon the grieving rajah-king, hoping to recover his remains, offered Mactan's victorious chief a handsome ransom of copper and iron for them. Lapu Lapu was elated; he had not possessed so much wealth in his lifetime. However, he was unable to produce the body. He could not find it. He searched; accompanied by a delegation from Cebu, he and his warriors carefully examined the shallow surf where Magellan had thrashed his last. Nothing turned up, The only explanation is that the Mactan defenders literally tore him apart and the sea, which had brought him so far, bore his blood away. Since his wife and child died in Seville before any member of the expedition could return to Spain, it seemed that every evidence of Ferdinand Magellan's existence had vanished from the earth."-Manchester, William (1993). A World Lit Only by Fire. Little, Brown and Company
The Spanish fleet set sail from Seville with five ships and had all five upon arrival to Cebu but after the battle of Mactan only had enough crewmen to sail two. In the end only one ship made it back, the Victoria. After Magellans' voyage, Spain sent four more expeditions to the Philippines hoping to conquer it. Loaisa(1525); Cabot(1526); Saavedra(1527); Villalobos(1542); and Legazpi(1564). When Legazpi landed on Cebu with 500 men he befriended Raja Katuna and Raja Gala. He was met by a hostile Raja Tupas who had succeeded Humabon as ruler of Cebu. Tupas was defeated and made to sign the island of Cebu over to Spain.
In 1542 Lapu Lapu died at the age of 51. The 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence refers to Lapu-Lapu as "Rey Kalipulako Mirontos de Mactan"(king Kalipulako of Mactan) and became inspirational during the struggle for independence since he was the first of the islanders to fend off a foreign power. The statue above is in Rizal Park at the national capital of Manila. April 27 is the official holiday of Adlaw ni Lapu Lapu(Day of Lapu Lapu). A fish, a drink, and a street in San Francisco, California is named after him.
