Lapu-Lapu’ s Real Name

Have you ever wondered what’s the the real name of Lapu- Lapu? Born in 1491, Cali Pulaco(some say it’s Kaliph Pulaka) also known as Lapu-Lapu was the earliest known indigenous Visayan chieftain, and datu of Mactan in the Philippines. Cali was a local title that is, as far as we know, no longer in use. It�s a royal title like that of a datu or a raj�h, but of a much lower rank. He was known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted the colonization of the Spaniards and Roman Catholic prosytilizing.

On April 27, 1521, Cali Pulaco, 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.

Lapu-Lapu died in 1542 and today and 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.

Source: Little known Truths about the battle of mactan
Photo: Portray of the Kadaugan Sa Mactan