Lapu-Lapu

Lapu-Lapu was a ruler of Mactan and Visayas. The Philippines regard him as the first Filipino hero because he was native to resist Spanish colonization.

He is best known for the Battle of Mactan, which happened at dawn on April 27, 1521. The battle halted the Magellan expedition and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1564.

Lapulapu was one of the two datus of Mactan before the Spanish arrived in the archipelago, the other being a certain Zula, both of whom belong to the Maginoo class. When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in the service of Spain, Zula was one of those who gave tribute to the Spanish king while Lapulapu refused.