Battle of Mactan: history and myth

By Cebu Network
Published May 8th, 2006

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. (Click on photos to view larger images)

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.

Beside the shrine are several stores that sell cheap native trinkets made of seashells. Also near the shrine are sutukil restaurants that cook fresh seafood.

More photographs, click on images to view larger photos:

12 Responses to “Battle of Mactan: history and myth”

1. New photo hosting for Cebu Living photos at Cebu Living says:
   1July 10th, 2006 at 6:15 pm

   [...] These photos of the Magellan monument in Lapu-Lapu City is hosted in Zooomr. For more about the Mactan Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City, read our previous article. Filed in Landmarks [...]

2. emz says:
   2July 25th, 2007 at 7:47 am

   what is yhe political significance of yhe battle of mactan

3. Manuel C. Diaz says:
   3August 5th, 2007 at 12:58 am

   All these Lapu-lapu battle of Mactan and the killing of magellan are all product of the fertile Filipino Imagination. In the first place nobody really knows how Lapulapu look like . Lapu lapu might look like the late Serging Osmena who knows? Not this muscular individual who looks like Adonis.Lapu Lapu might be malnourished like most of the poor children of Cebu. The chronicle of
   Anotnio Pigaffeta never mentioned that it was Lapulapu who personnaly finished off Magellan but rather Lapulapu’s warriors. Probably Lapu lapu just posed with the dead body of Magellan after the battle has settled and it was safe for him to do a “photo Opps”.

   Of course lapu lapu is still alive he turned into a fish. The only fish named after a hero.

4. HSA says:
   4September 21st, 2007 at 11:34 am

   Mr. Diaz points out the fertile Filipino imagination. He also has quite a fertile imagination himself to think of Lapulapu looking malnourished just like the poor children of cebu. He contradicts himself.

   You might want to check on your grammar too Mr. Diaz.

5. Raylin says:
   5October 1st, 2007 at 6:38 pm

   this is my project…thx ^^

6. chris Walker says:
   6October 31st, 2007 at 6:02 am

   the simple fact is that we could not substantiate for sure all that was written by pigafetta bec. the facts could not be corroborated by others.. it could not be avoided that there would be bias and exaggeration..I tis quite evident though that we filipinos defeated a superior enemy who were grossly over confident..letv us stop all those conjectures if it was really Lapu2x who killed magellan, who cares as long as magellan fell down by one of our own then so be it..

7. Jose Lido Patigdas Arendain says:
   7November 21st, 2007 at 7:17 pm

   ….Always remember that victors wrote history. Anything that pigaffeta wrote as official chronicler/historian will remain part of world history and is considered authority. Sad to say during that time Filipinos were no read no write and has nothing to do with it.

   ….I’m sure corrupted na ang historical facts ni Pigaffeta….

   ….Kung buhay na sana si Gat Jose Rizal that time…Lintek lang sana ang walang ganti…In short, wala tayong control sa mga nangyayari before…
   ….There is no used crying over spilled milk…Adios!

8. azian says:
   8January 8th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

   hay naku… what ever the story is- still lapu lapu and his warriors saved their barangay not to colonized by the portugese kaya magbigay na lang tayo ng pagpupugay sa kanya ( ^_^ ) piece be with you>>!!

9. ed says:
   9February 27th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

   of course none of us knows what lapu-lapu really looks like but for those who saw him in the past described him as what image you have seen right now. thus, lapu-lapu really looks like what you saw. dont expect to see a real face of lapu-lapu coz camera was not yet discovered. just expect you’ll see lapu-lapu through paintings and sculptures. whoever killed magellan, whether it be lapu-lapu or his warriors, still they are Filipinos and whatever they look like, we are proud of the bravery that they had made inspite of the Spanish powerful artillery….no offence…peace and god bless…

10. Andoy says:
    10March 29th, 2008 at 4:55 am

    Sugbu
    The queen city of the south, check it out for yourself.
    Visit Cebu! January = Sinulog
    Beaches sights to see lots to do.
    Airport code CEB lands at Mactan International airport.
    Go to the island Cebu.
    History is here in Cebu.
    Andoy (no explorer)

11. Andoy says:
    11March 29th, 2008 at 4:58 am

    Visit Cebu!
    Airport Code = CEB, Mactan International airport.
    History abounds here in Cebu

12. trish says:
    12May 16th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    why do lapulapu fish named after chieftain…is it bec. it was his favorite fish?

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