Lapulapu -- A Reminder of Different Heroes




The one centavo coin was probably my generation's first knowledge of Lapu Lapu and also the long-lasting image about him that still remains in many of us. Besides that, he is still the obscure hero of a nation which incidentally was not yet in existence during the battle of Mactan. So whatever he and his men fought for, they fought it above all for themselves. But is there something about the historical Lapulapu that we Filipinos should always mention? I think there is -- I believe the Battle of Mactan was a blow to European claims and pretensions in the 16th Century, in a region they thought they have exclusive rights.

This could be blasphemy to some but I am in the opinion that the foremost role of History and historians in bringing out facts is also to give justice to those people, natives like those who greatly suffered under the yoke of European colonization--Lest we forget that their glowing stories of exploration, circumnavigation, and colonization were also achieved at the expense of millions of innocent lives.
If they are reliving right now the tales and deeds of their great men of exploration they should also be ready to discuss the evils that happened with it: Think of the millions of natives in the Americas who lost their lives, like the exploited in the silver mines of Potosi, the Transatlantic Slave Trade that Portugal started and Spain tolerated or the execution of natives in one island in the Moluccas by the Dutch, whereby thousands perished due to the pressures brought by European rivalries in the Spice Trade.
Perhaps Lapu Lapu is a redeeming figure telling us also that there was never be a Montezuma or an Atahualpa in our history. And in that battle in Mactan five hundred years ago people who were regarded as " lowly" and "uncivilized" were able to stop those who think they were superior, dead on its track - literally.
Whoever he was and what he really fought for, Lapulapu should not just be an obscure hero, we should take him out of the centavo that we locked him in. He should be a reminder to the world of different heroes -- Those who fought only for the sake of fighting and came out victorious without even knowing the bigger repercussions.
To end this, I leave these lines from the play "The Royal Hunt of the Sun"-- "You came for gold.. I promised you this kingdom. Here it is. I didn't promise you life or everlasting happiness. So... Adelante!"

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