Lapulapu was Tausug, Duterte claims

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said that Lapulapu, who defended Mactan island in Cebu from Spanish invaders, was a member of the Tausug tribe in Mindanao.

"Sino nag-elevate kay Lapulapu? Diba sabi ko noong nagpunta ako dito wala tayong national hero?" Duterte said at the Camp Brigadier General Gonzalo Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. He was in town for a meeting with BARMM officials, police and military leaders.

(Who elevated (the status) of Lapulapu? Remember, I said the last time I was here that we do not have a national hero?)

"I raised Lapulapu from the level of dignity of a true warrior and he  was Tausug. The settlement is Tausug," the 76-year-old leader added.

The President continued to raise Lapulapu's bravery as he highlighted the Mactan leader's triumph against the country's colonizers.

"Itong mga pilosopo, they are contesting Lapulapu. Sabi ko nand'yan na yan, he (Lapulapu) killed the first invader of our country," Duterte said.

(These philosophers, they are contesting Lapulapu. I said that it's already recorded that he (Lapulapu) killed the first invader of our country.)

"I am very proud of him, talagang napagyayabang ko, kaya may medal. The medals I give to my soldiers now are all Lapulapu awards for bravery. Pinatay talaga si... Whoever told Magellan and f--- with our country," he added.

(I am very proud of him, I am really able to brag about it, that's why there is a medal.)

This year, the Philippines commemorated the 500th anniversary of the victory in Mactan and the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines.

On Facebook, Senator Bong Go, Duterte's aide, issued an apology over tagging Lapulapu as a Tausug during an event held in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu last month.

In a speech at Lapu-Lapu City, Go said the Mactan chieftain also has connections with ancestors in Sulu.

"I am deeply asking for your forgiveness over my pronouncements. I would like to clarify that I respect our history and I have no intentions to revise it," Go wrote in Filipino.

"I am prepared to listen to our experts on Philippine history," he added.

Go's claim was already disputed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), which said there is no credible eyewitness account or form of document that may be considered as a primary source of Lapulapu's parents and birthplace.

"What we know about him are based on the accounts of survivors of the first circumnavigation of the world, especially Antonio Pigafetta... who mentioned that during Battle of Mactan, Lapulapu was a chieftain of Mactan," NHCP said in a statement on April 30, identifying Italian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta as the chronicler of Magellan-Elcano expedition.

“NHCP considers other popular accounts and stories outside of these historical sources as speculative and folkloric and should not be regarded as established facts of history," it added. -- BAP, GMA News