Lapu Lapu
1491-1542 A.D.   Lapu-Lapu (Kaliph Pulaka) (1491 – 1542) is considered the first National hero of the Philippines because the Visayan chieftain of Mactan was the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization, at what is now known as the Battle of Mactan.According to the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta…On the morning of April 27, 1521..”forty-nine of us leaped into the water up to our thighs, and walked through water for more than two cross-bow flights before we could reach the shore. The boats could not approach nearer because of certain rocks in the water. The other eleven men remained behind to guard the boats. When we reached land, [the natives] had formed in three divisions to the number of more than one thousand five hundred persons. When they saw us, they charged down upon us with exceeding loud cries… The musketeers and crossbow-men shot from a distance for about a half-hour, but uselessly…Seeing that, the captain-general ( Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan) sent some men to burn their houses in order to terrify them. When they saw their houses burning, they were roused to greater fury. Two of our men were killed near the houses, while we burned twenty or thirty houses. So many of them charged down upon us that they shot the captain through the right leg with a poisoned arrow. On that account, he ordered us to retire slowly, but the men took to flight, except six or eight of us who remained with the captain. The natives shot only at our legs, for the latter were bare; and so many were the spears and stones that they hurled at us, that we could offer no resistance. The mortars in the boats could not aid us as they were too far away.Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice… An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain’s face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the Indian’s body. Then, trying to lay hand on sword, he could draw it out but halfway, because he had been wounded in the arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass (a native sword called a kampilan), which resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide. When they wounded him, he turned back many times to see whether we were all in the boats. Thereupon, beholding him dead, we, wounded, retreated, as best we could, to the boats, which were already pulling off.”In Lapu-Lapu’s honor, the Cebuano people have erected a statue and church in Mactan Island and also renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City. |
The Kampilan is a famous long sword widely used in the pre-conquest Philippine Archipelago and still in use by many Filipino Muslims today, especially by the Maguindanao and Maranao Moros. The term “kampilan” is known all over the archipelago, and is mentioned in the ancient Filipino epic Hinilawod of the Hiligaynons. Mactan chieftain Lapu-lapu and his warriors were reported to have wielded this weapon to great effect when they fought against Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521, since which time the Kampilan has been considered a national weapon of the Moros of Sulu & Mindanao.
The kris (or keris as it is known in malaysia) is undoubtedly the most famous and the most common Moro sword. It can be found in Sulu & Mindanao and is used extensively by the Tausug, Samal and Yakan warriors. Variations can be found in every Moro tribe.
Malay keris’ were typically pointier than their Moro cousins and used primarily as thrusting weapons. They are also identifiable by the damascene pattern found on the blades themselves, and the fact that they are made with a separate gangya (guard).
The Barong (sometimes spelled Borung) were popularized by the Muslims, especially the Tausug tribes of the Southern Philippines. Later they reached the Mangyan Tribes of Mindoro and Tagalogs of the Eastern Luzon Provinces. The barong is also the favored weapon of the people of the Sultunate of Sulu.
Golok is the name given to a range of large knives and short swords originating from Indonesia, most notably from Myanmar (Burma). Unlike many of the other blades of the region that began as utility tools and were adapted to warfare as necessary the Golok was only ever designed for one purpose to chop heads and limbs off of the enemy.
The Ginunting which resembles a scissor blade draws its name from Tagalog/Filipino word “gunting”, meaning scissors. Blade length is typically approximately 20″ with an overall length of 26-27″. The Ginunting originates from the central region of the Philippines, the Visayas archipelago. The Ginunting is the principle bladed weapon of Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. Since the Force Recon Marines of the Philippines train in Pekiti-Tirsia, the Ginunting is also their official close combat weapon, and is routinely carried along with their M16s.
The “Talibong” or “Talibon” sword was seen in the northern Philippines during the later part of the Spanish era to the early American regime. One the principle bladed weapons of the Western Visayas islands, the talibong, is a sword used by the Christian Filipinos of Cebu.The angle of the blade in relation to the hilt creates a “leading edge”, which makes the talibong a good cutting implement, and it’s forward “set” makes it well suited to thrusting.Originally used for hunting, this sword was adapted as a weapon during the later part of the Spanish era.