28/04/2026
๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐๐ฌ!
We join the Filipino people in remembering Lapulapu and the people of Mactan on the 505th anniversary of the Kadaugan sa Mactan (Victory in Mactan).
On 27 April 1521, forces under the command of Lapulapu defeated a Spanish raid led by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan on the shores of Mactan Island.
The battle erupted from a leadership dispute between Lapulapu and Rajah Humabon of neighboring Sugbo (present day Cebu) wherein Magellan offered to attack Mactan on behalf of Humabon as a demonstration of European fighting prowess and as a sign of their friendship. Magellan and his fleet found themselves in Cebu during their expedition in search of the Spice Islands of the Mollucas.
After their defeat at the hands of the warriors of Mactan, the surviving Spanish were later chased out of Cebu by Humabon and went on to other parts of the present day Philippines and Southeast Asia. Sebastian Elcano, captain of the ship Victoria, and his crew continued their journey back to Spain via a route through the Indian Ocean and completed the earliest recorded circumnavigation of the World.
After the battle, little else was recorded on Lapulapuโs subsequent life. In recognition of their triumph against foreign intervention, the anniversary of the battle was made a special working holiday throughout the Philippines and a special non-working holiday in the City of Lapu-Lapu, Cebu by virtue of Republic Act No. 11040 (29 June 2018).
See more about the NHCPโs Statement on Lapulapuโs origins and subsequent life HERE: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CvfgywGrW/
๐ธ Triumph of Lapulapu (2020) by Jesus D. Rona of Cebu City. Minor Prize Winner in the Sovereignty category of the National Quincentennial Art Competition.