Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Carvajal: Lapu-Lapu’s heroism By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
LAPU-LAPU'S heroism has been romanticized by the annual reenactment of the killing of Ferdinand Magellan, an uninspiring spectacle meant only to entertain. Yet Lapu-Lapu truly deserves more than a reenactment.
If we want Filipinos to be inspired by him, and we should, his heroism should be celebrated more with symposia that discuss the deeper and more relevant significance of his heroism.
I would like to think that Lapu-Lapu’s heroism consisted in a rejection of the invader’s way of life which was one of domination and subjugation and virtual ownership of the weak. Another essential element of his heroism was when he showed that the spirit of freedom can overcome superior arms and equipment. He pre-dated the Vietcong’s victory over a vastly superior American army by centuries.
There was no Philippines yet, so there were no Filipinos when this happened. Lapu-Lapu was head of the tribe of Oponganons in Mactan island, one of the many tribes that existed all over the archipelago at the time and still do today. As head of his tribe he was guardian of a way of life that was communal and essentially socialistic in nature as they had no concept of private property. As head of his tribe he took the responsibility of caring for his people. Theirs was a thriving community. They were poor only by the colonizer’s standards.
This significance of his heroism has been completely lost on those who eventually took over the reins of government from the colonizers. They rejected the colonizers physically but assimilated the colonizer’s way of life.
They simply continued the elitist and highly stratified society the colonizers set up in the country. Domination of the lower classes by the colonizers continued under the new and local rulers.
I could imagine Lapu-Lapu dreaming of progress for his people within the context of their way of life which was fundamentally egalitarian even if monarchical. If indeed he dreamt this, that dream is all but shattered. In the Philippines, talk of egalitarianism is taboo. An elitist and highly stratified society is promoted as God’s will for Filipinos even by the religious elite.
In the City itself, where the reenactment happens, Lapu-Lapu is mocked not honored by a local government that is anything but heroic in its style of governance. On the contrary, it is hounded with accusations, not without basis, of incompetence and corruption that are really the hallmarks of post-colonial local and national governments, with few exceptions.
We ought to honor Lapu-Lapu by following his example of rejecting a way of life that dominates the weak and favors the strong. But who do you tell that to? Definitely not to the suffering people.
