Lapu-Lapu (1491–1542) was the datu of Mactan, an island in the Visayas in the Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first Filipino hero. On the morning of April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu led his Mactan warriors armed with barong, spears, kampilan and kalasag, in a battle against Portuguese explorer and conquistador Ferdinand Magellan armed with cannons and guns. In what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, Magellan and several of his men were killed. According to Opon Province,Cebu's oral tradition, Lapu-Lapu was a [Native in the Philippines long before the Spaniards came] Chieftain. Lapu-Lapu was also known as "Kaliph Pulaka".Other Moros also recognize him as a Filipino Native and as a "Lumad" of Cebu.A variant of the name, as written by Carlos Calao, a 17th century Chinese-Spanish poet in his poem "Que Dios Le Perdone" (Spanish, "That God May Forgive Him") is "Cali Pulacu". In the 19th century, the propagandist Mariano Ponce used a variant name, "Kalipulako", as one of his pseudonyms. The 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence refers to Lapu-Lapu as "King Kalipulako de Maktan". Appendix A: Act of the Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People (Spanish-to-English translation culled from John Taylor's Philippine Insurgent Records') Hernando de Magallanes, who arrived upon the shores of Cebu, ...was killed in the battle which took place on said shores, to which he was provoked by King Kalipulako de Maktan, who was suspicious of his bad intentions...
