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Lapu-Lapu is also the name of the grouper fish in the Philippines. For the city, see Lapu-Lapu City.

Lapu-Lapu (also called Kaliph Pulaka according to local historal narratives)^[1] (c. 1491? – 1547?) was the earliest known indigenous Datu (chieftain) of the Visayan-inhabited Mactan Island in the Philippines. Known by the title Iliji Rajiki (minor Raja) and a Muslim Tausug by ancestry according to Sulu oral histories ^[2], he was known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first National hero of the Philippines.

On the morning of March 17, 1521, Lapu-Lapu and the men of Mactan, armed with spears and kampilan, faced Spanish soldiers led by Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan. In what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, Magellan and several of his men were killed.

In his honor, the Cebuano people have erected a statue and church in Mactan Island and also renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City. A more recent statue was given as a gift to the Philippines from South Korea in 2005. It stands in Rizal Park in the Philippine capital city of Manila.^[3]

c. 1480? - Magellan was born.

April 14, 1521 - Rajah Humabon, his family, and 800 Sugboanons (people from Cebu) befriended Magellan and converted to Roman Catholicism. Magellan declared the people of Cebu to be "servant of God and Spain", while the pagan and Muslim inhabitants of Mactan island became the "enemies of the Church".

April 27, 1521 - Magellan, with his armored armada, ploughed ashore Mactan island and fought Lapu-Lapu and his warriors. The encounter is known in Philippine history as the Battle of Mactan. The Spaniards were driven off the island in a terrible defeat, as Magellan was killed while he ordered a retreat.

June 9, 1522 - Juan Sebastian Elcano, navigating Magellan's only remaining vessel La Victoria with eighteen men and 533-hundredweight-cloves on board, successfully returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain via the Tidorein Maluka (present-day Moluccas), Juan Sebastian Elcano was listed in world history as the first man to have ever completed the circumnavigation of the world. Eighteen other crew members share the same title.

Statue of Lapu-Lapu, with Magellan Monument in background, Mactan Island, Cebu.

October 1, 1971 - Orlando, Florida, His legacy is preserved at the Disney Polynesian Resort in the form of a menu item. Lapu-Lapu is a potent drink possibly named in his honor. It consists of 1 shot Meyer's dark rum, 1 shot Bacardi 151 proof rum, 1 shot sour mix, ice, and orange juice all in a hollowed out pineapple.

2002, Lapu-Lapu (feature length film)- remake of 1955 indie-Filipino cult classic/winner of multiple F.A.P. awards (Film Academy of the Philippines).

1. ^ Ang, J.C (PM). Historical Timeline of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu Including Related Events of Neighboring Peoples. [1]
2. ^ "One Sulu oral history provides many interesting details about Lapu-Lapu. He was called Iliji Rajiki (rajiki a minor raja), a Muslim Tausug, an expert in Silatan (Tausug martial art of swordsmanship), and a warrior of the sultan of Sulu. Mactan was the seat of the kingdom and he was the Sultan's representative ruler in the Visayas area." [2]
3. ^ [3]

1. Agoncillo, Teodoro A. Magellan and Lapu-Lapu. Fookien Times Yearbook, 1965, p. 634.
2. Alcina, Francisco, Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisaya, MS 1668.
3. Correa, Gaspar, Lendas de India, Vol. 2, p. 630.
4. Cruz, Gemma, "Making Little Hero of Mactan."
5. Estabaya, D. M., 445 Years of Lapu-lapu, Weekly nation 1: 26-27, April 25, 1966.
6. Pigafetta, Antonio, Primo Viaje en Torno al Globo Terraqueo, Corredato di Notte de Carlo Amoteti, Milano, 1800.