After years of being wrongfully referred to as “Lapu-Lapu,”, the hero known for mounting the country’s first ever local resistance against Spanish colonial rule, will finally get a more historically accurate name.
Last Tuesday, Rodrigo R. Duterte finally signed Executive Order No. 152, which changed the rendering of the name of the Philippine icon to “Lapulapu.”
He noted the removal of the hyphen aims to conform with the earlier reference of Lapulapu.
“The earliest rendering in the Latin alphabet of the name of the hero of Mactan is “Cilapulapu,” with the Ci apparently being an honorific title, from which our founding heroes Jose Rizal and Juan Luna derived their own references to him as Si Lapulapu,” Duterte said.
Duterte ordered all government offices and instrumentalities as well as the private sector to make use of the restored name of Lapulapu.
“Adopting a common rendering of the name of Lapulapu, so as to conform to earlier references, will aid in the education of our youth about Philippine history which is foundational to the formation of national identity,” Duterte said.
The only exemption to EO 152, Duterte said, are the official names of places, name after Lapulapu, such as Lapu-Lapu City,
He noted “having been established by statute” the said names of such locations will be respected.
EO 152 also incidentally also changed EO 35, which grants the Order of Lapu-Lapu to government officials, employees as well as private individuals who rendered extraordinary service in the advocacy of the President.
“All references to the name ‘Lapu-Lapu’ in EO No. 17, as amended, and EO No. 55, as amended, are hereby amended to read as Lapulapu,” Duterte said.
EO 152 is set to take effect after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.