The 40-ft bronze statue of the Visayan chieftain Lapu-Lapu stands in the middle of Agrifina Circle in Rizal Park.
Manila – Fourteen years after its presence in Manila’s Rizal Park was questioned by historians, the 40-foot bronze statue of Philippine hero, Lapu-Lapu, continues to stand literally tall in the middle of Agrifina Circle within the eastern portion of the park.
On a slow Monday afternoon, as students wearing their uniforms practiced dances and recorded films for school projects, there stood the Visayan warrior and celebrated chieftain of Mactan looking brave, in control and in-charge of his “village.”
The statue looks towards the sea, almost mirroring the park’s famous monument of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
By the foot of the statue sat Leah Jean, a 17-year-old Senior High School student, who knows the statue as “the hero from Cebu who killed the Spaniards hundreds of years ago.”
“But I forgot the name,” she said as she covered her mouth to suppress fits of shy giggles.
The statue has always been there ever since she could remember, said Leah Jean.
The teenager was only three years old when the statue was unveiled to the public in a grand inauguration in 2004.
Launching
Ahmed Cuizon, regional director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7), remembers the inaugural ceremony as festive and attended by prominent government officials including Senator Richard Gordon, who was then secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT).
Cuizon, who was Lapu-Lapu City Tourism Commissioner, at the time, was part of the official delegation, who attended the inauguration held on February 5, 2004 during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“We went there and we were awed by the size of that statue. We wondered why the face was square-jawed. We later learned that a Korean organization donated the money used to build the statue,” said Cuizon.
The statue, called the Sentinel of Freedom, was sculpted by national artist Juan Sajid Imao.
It was a gift from The Korea Freedom League and Poongsan Microtech Philippine Inc. “in appreciation and honor of the memory of freedom loving Filipinos who sent their sons to help save Korean democracy.”
Lapu-Lapu was described as a “benevolent ruler of the Visayan people, a valiant warden of the light of Islam, a victorious defender of our homeland and the first Asian to withstand colonial forces.”
Transfer
Lapu-Lapu’s monument at the Rizal Park was previously questioned by historians who said that only those who died at the park should have their memorials there.
Responding to the historians’ lament, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, in 2014, suggested for local government to bring the statue home to Cebu and erect it on a man-made island located at the tip of Barangay Punta Engaño — site of the famous Battle of Mactan.
It would be just like New York’s Statue of Liberty, Radaza had then said.
But Cebu City North District Congressman Raul Del Mar said that removing Lapu-Lapu from Rizal Park will demote the honor that was accorded to the chieftain.
It was Del Mar along with then Congresswoman Nerissa Soon-Ruiz who urged the Office of the President to grant the proposal to erect a statue of Lapu-Lapu at Manila’s Rizal Park.
They then worked side-by-side with Gordon to have the statue constructed.
Amid questions raised by historians, Gordon said Lapu-Lapu deserved a place in the park because he was not just a hero of Cebu but the nation.
The chieftain’s monument is also 400 meters away from the Rizal monument, which Gordon said, symbolizes the 400-year historical distance between Lapu-Lapu and Rizal.
While Lapu-Lapu was described as the first Asian to withstand colonial forces, Rizal was described as the first Asian to stir up within people’s hearts “a revolution against colonial forces.”
On April 26 last year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 200 which declared April 27 as “Lapu-Lapu Day,” a fulfillment of a promise to recognize Visayan heroes.
Holiday
This year, Senator Gordon introduced Senate Bill 108 (“Adlaw ni Lapu-Lapu”) which seeks to declare April 27 of every year as a special working public holiday in honor of Lapu-Lapu as the first hero to defend the country from colonizers during the historic Battle of Mactan.
The battle was believed to have taken place on April 27, 1521.
Gordon’s bill passed its third and final reading last February 19.
A similar measure, House Bill No. 6437, was also filed by Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Aileen Radaza and Pangasinan Rep. Marlyn L. Primicias-Agabas on September 20 last year.
The bill, now named House Bill No. 6782 after it passed the Committee on Revision of Laws last January 22 was transmitted to the Senate two days later.
Gordon, who was in Cebu City this month to lead the inauguration of the newly-renovated Philippine Red Cross – Cebu Chapter building in Osmeña Boulevard, said that he was determined to keep the 40-foot bronze statue of the legendary chieftain in the National Park.
“I will not allow it. Over my dead body. That’s a national park, why would he be removed? If you’re removing him, you’re making him a local hero, not a national hero,” he said.
In an earlier interview with reporters in Metro Manila, the Senator also said Lapu-Lapu was not only the first to defeat colonizers, but his heroic acts also accurately represent a portion of the Philippine National Anthem, “sa manlulupig, ‘di ka pa sisiil (to repel invaders).”
“You know why I also choose Lapu-Lapu? He did not fight. He was challenged. He was not a killer. Yet, he was not even declared as a national hero,” said Gordon.
As plans are laid out in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the beginning of Christianity in the Philippines in 2021, two questions linger in the minds of those who await the event with bated breath.
Will the 40-foot statue remain standing in Rizal Park?
Or will it find itself in Mactan where it will be given a very prominent spot in the city’s skyline?