Our second destination after arriving in Mactan airport is the shrine of Lapu-Lapu in Mactan island. Here, the tourists will see the 20-ft. bronze statue of the first Filipino hero Lapu-Lapu, who repelled the foreign invaders headed by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who served under King Charles I of Spain.
That historical battle on 27 April 1521 happened on this mangrove beach below. Here, Datu Lapu-Lapu and his men fought a pre-dawn attack of Magellan's men, if my history teacher's account of the story is correct.
The body of Magellan was never retrieved by the survivors headed by Juan Sebastian Elcano, who fled to Spain. A monument with Spanish inscriptions on all its 4 sides was erected near the spot where Magellan died.
Along the beach is a tribal sort of backdrop used in previous local festivity.
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