The Battle of Mactan

CEBU, Philippines - Tomorrow, Sunday, April 27, the famed "Battle of Mactan" is again to be reenacted, right in the seashore of barangay Mactan where the Portuguese navigator Fernand Magellan met his fate in the hands of native warriors.

Why was the battle of Mactan fought? What were the events that led to that encounter? Author Laurence Bergreen, in his book "Over the Edge of the World" (2003), recounted:

After Magellan had placed the island of Cebu under his influence, with its chieftain Humabon and his people already baptized as Christians, he wanted to extend his authority to neighboring islands, including Mactan which at that time was ruled by Lapulapu. His motive must have been to Christianize the people therein, although he could have been inspired also by his desire to place more islands under his control. As told by Gines de Mafra, one of the sailors aboard "Trinidad," the flagship, "Magellan… had been promised as his reward perpetual possession of some islands, among which it can be conjectured, he wanted to win Cebu."

When summoned to see the Portuguese navigator LapuLapu (it is so spelled in Pigafetta's account) refused. Unlike the other chieftains who obeyed Magellan's order to convert and to swear allegiance to King Charles of Spain, the Mactan leader remained adamant. To show the latter that he meant business, Magellan sent a band of his men to wreak havoc. Pigafetta wrote: "We burned one hamlet which was located on a neighboring island because it refused to obey the king and us." That island was Mactan.

That move frightened the natives, but it did not soften their chieftain's antagonism towards the foreigners. Instead, it added fire to his resolve to fight in defense of his land and people.

Meanwhile, Magellan strengthened his hold on Humabon by ordering the other chieftains in the island to swear allegiance to Humabon himself. The Cebu chief in turn was made to swear allegiance to the king of Spain. The Captain General's motive was clear. By making the Cebu chieftain dominate over the other village chiefs he (Magellan) actually became lord over all of them because they now owed their loyalty to the Spanish royalty whom he represented. This desire to subjugate all the islands was the very reason why Lapulapu's intransigent could not be tolerated. Who was he to stand against the might of the Spanish sailors? He must be taught a lesson. Mactan must be destroyed.

Such decision, according to Pigafetta, alarmed Magellan's inner circle. With Humabon's obeisance and assurance of loyalty, things had been going on very well. Many of the Cebuanos had been baptized and their hospitality made life for the sailors enjoyable. It was therefore possible that some of them showed less enthusiasm on their leader's call to arms.

Humabon too was not happy about Magellan's belligerence. It was said that he had tried to assuage the Captain General's loathing of Lapulapu by saying that since the latter was married to his sister, it was likely that he could be convinced to come to terms with the invader's demand.

Hubris, however, dominated Magellan's state of mind. Had he not come out victorious against the perils that blocked his way from halfway around the world? Storms and mutineers, diseases and ferocious natives and what have you - against all these he had triumphed because it was God's will, he believed. Against this stubborn "Indio" would not divine providence support him for the sake of the Faith?

Pigafetta narrates: "At midnight, sixty of us set out armed with corselets and helmets, together with the Christian king, the prince, some of the chief men and twenty or thirty 'balanghai.' We reached Mactan three hours before dawn."

At that point in time Magellan must have sensed the dangers waiting for him because he first sent a message to Lapulapu that if he would "obey the king of Spain, recognize the Christian king as their sovereign, and pay us our tribute he (Magellan) would be their friend, but if they wished otherwise they should wait and see how our lances wounded."

Lapulapu refused to yield and answered that he had weapons too. His lances he said were made from stout bamboos and his stakes were "hardened with fire."

So the battle lines were drawn. Ranged against the Spanish "lions" were the unshod warriors of the chieftain of Mactan. (FREEMAN)