The Portuguese navigator and his men first set foot in Cebu on April l7, 1521 where their vessel was moored at the port of Cebu. Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan’s chronicler, described the sights and nuances of early Cebuano culture: “”The houses were built with logs and had ladders made of wood and were roofed with nipa. Many sailing vessels from Siam (Thailand), China, and Arabia were docked at the port. The people ate from porcelain wares and used a lot of gold and jewelry for decoration of their bodies and clothing. Their wines were in Jars. Men tattooed their naked bodies covering their private parts with Bahagui and silk turbans were on their heads. About their girls, they were beautiful and almost as white and as large as our girls although naked from waist up. Upper class women wore sack-like blouses called Chambara on top of a square length cloth shirt tied tightly around the waist. The women painted their lips and nails with bright colors, adorned their bodies with jewelries, but all of them were barefoot.

A religious milestone occurred in Cebu with the baptism of Zebu¡¯s King Humabon and wife Queen Juana and 400 of their people, signaling the spread of Christianity all over the islands. However, along with the advent of Christian proselytizing, the islanders were subjugated to the Spanish sovereignty. The Spanish reign in Cebu proved to be short-lived following the death of Magellan on April 28, 1521 in the rebellious hand of valiant Zubu warrior Lapu-lapu.

Undaunted by the fate of Magellan, forty years later Spanish colonizer Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Fray Andres de Urdaneta set forth their sails to conquer Cebu. Legaspi reached Cebu on April 27, 1565 as the second Spanish conquistador. With the defeat of Rajah Tupas, leaving in his midst the village in shambles, Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus rose from the ruins. This was named after the famous miraculous image of Senor Santo Nino de Cebu that was found unscathed among the ashes of a dwelling burned by Spaniards. However, the settlement which Legaspi built as another symbol of Christianity in the island stood as an omen; portending decades of Spanish colonial regime.

Empires have come and gone. Reputations have been made and fallen. All leave a legacy, all have impacted on our world today.

The Romans in their time influenced Europe, Egypt, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Great Britain stamped an empire over one third of the Globe at the height of her power.

In the sixteenth century there were two major players – Spain and Portugal. Whilst both played a hand, it was one – for good or ill – right down to the name, which was to seal the destiny of the Philippines.

The so-called “Battle of Mactan” was a fight between Lapu Lapu’s warriors, and Magellan’s crew who were trying to coerce the inhabitants of Mactan, along with several other islands, to convert to Christianity. Those who resisted were threatened, then had their villages burned. Lapu Lapu and his people, who continued to resist, were attacked as a further form of coercion.

Magellan’s actions, while reprehensible in the modern context, were consistent with policies of both the Catholic Church and the King of Spain in place at the time. Many inhabitants of neighbouring islands feigned conversion to gain the favour of the Spanish armada, but Lapu Lapu held firm.

The Spanish attackers, man for man unquestionably better armed, were overwhelmed by numbers. While there were re-enforcements available on their ships, they were not deployed. The armada, which had already suffered an attempted mutiny after which Magellan tortured, executed and marooned several men, and another successful mutiny where they lost one of their five ships, was not a harmonious group. Many (indeed, most) of those on board the remaining ships distrusted Magellan – some truly despised him. Some historians feel that the choice to not send more re-enforcements was a conscious decision to allow Magellan to die (i.e. – another mutiny).

Either way, the far superior numbers of Lapu Lapu’s forces pinned down Magellan and his men and proved victorious. Pigafetta reports 1500 warriors under Lapu Lapu, which is most probably seriously exaggerated, but is consistent with a commonly experienced phenomenon in historical research whereby the loser in a battle habitually inflates the numbers of his enemy, perhaps to excuse his own loss.

Pigafetta, who was loyal to Magellan, writes in terms complementary to his hero when read by a European or a Christian with the values prevalent at the time. Nevertheless, when read by any person with modern values, Pigafetta unwittingly becomes one of the greatest supporters of Lapu Lapu. Most of the details of that day would be lost were it not for him. And while his writings must be read with a certain caution, as must all historical primary sources, the overall accuracy of the verifiable components of his telling of the entire voyage (with the admitted exception of matters defamatory to Magellan) lend a degree credence to his story of the affair at Mactan.

And mind you, Mr. Manuel C. Diaz here is very stupid (even his grammatical structure is stupid). He questions how Lapu-lapu actually looked like and the Filipinos have such fertile imagination. I couldn’t really argue how stupid he is. One of the most stupid person I happened to read on web. Yuck.