Lapulapu (chief)

Lapulapu (chief) (1490?-1560?), Filipino chieftain and leader of the warriors who killed Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. Lapulapu is now widely regarded as the first Filipino hero. In 1521 Magellan made a pact with one of Lapulapu's rivals, Humabon, a chief on the island of Cebu. Magellan agreed to help Humabon attack the nearby island of Mactan, and in late April Magellan and his sailors tried to land on the island. Lapulapu gathered his forces and killed Magellan and most of the sailors.

Lapulapu's story was recorded by two European chroniclers, Antonio de Pigafetta and Maximilius Transylvanus, and by the oral traditions of Mactan. The oral histories include the myth that, after his death, Lapulapu was transformed into the sea rock of Malingin, south of Punta Engano. In honor of Lapulapu, the city of Opon, opposite the city of Cebu on a channel of Cebu Strait, was renamed Lapu-Lapu.