President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday that he was amenable to the proposal by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to change the name of Mactan–Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to Lapu-Lapu International Airport.
The NHCP wishes to rename the airport to honor Visayan hero Datu Lapu-Lapu, who killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 during the Battle of Mactan.
“Lapu-Lapu fought for our country…. After that battle, he was able to kill the supremo of the expeditionary,” Duterte was quoted as saying by ABS-CBN.
NHCP Chairperson Rene Escalante said they wanted to rename the Cebu airport so that Lapu-Lapu’s name “will be popularized and immortalized.”
Duterte said that it was “crazy” how Lapu-Lapu has been largely ignored and that only a hotel and a fish were named after him.
(Duterte might be unaware that a city in Cebu was named after Lapu-Lapu, where a bronze statue depicting the famed hero could also be found.)
According to a report by the Philippine Star, Duterte said in Filipino: “Why should we name [the airport] after foreigners who only go (sic) here [to the Philippines] to invade [our country]?”
The president seems to be a fan of Lapu-Lapu, judging by what he has done so far to honor the hero. Last month, Duterte signed the Republic Act (RA) 11040, which declares April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day to celebrate the hero’s victory in Mactan on April 27, 1521.
In 2017, the president also signed Executive Order No. 17 or the Order of Lapu-Lapu, which recognizes individuals who have helped his campaign against illegal drugs and gambling, as well as graft and corruption.
