KINONTRA ng historian mula sa Cebu ang sinabi ni Sen. Bong Go na mula sa Mindanao si Lapu-Lapu, ang kauna-unahang bayaning Pilipino.
Sa kanyang speech sa ika-500 anibersaryo ng Battle of Mactan, sinabi ni Go na naglakbay sa Mactan mula Mindanao si Lapu-Lapu upang kumprontahin ang mga dayuhan na pinamumunuan ni Ferdinand Magellan.
“I and President Duterte are from Mindanao. We, too, are Bisaya. But based on a version of history, the former East Kingdom of Sulu, who guards the 7,107 islands of the Philippines, requested Lapu-Lapu to be vigilant after foreigners were seen near Mactan.”
“From Sulu, Lapu-Lapu brought with him several Tausug warriors on board some boats. They were met by Magellan’s soldiers, which led to the Battle of Mactan where the Portuguese explorer was killed,” ani Go.
Idinagdag ng senador na mahalagang balikan ang nakaraan, “but it is also important to correct the mistakes of the past so we can understand the present and face the future with confidence.”
Hindi naman pinalagpas ni archaeologist-historian Jose Eleazar Bersales ang sinabi ng senador.
‘Most of what is known about Lapu-Lapu in recent times was embedded in folk myths and legends, heavily loaded with nationalist discourses,” aniya.
“I warned that as the 500th anniversary of the historic Battle of Mactan approached, there will be idiotic claims about him, about his being Muslim and Bornean at that,” dagdag niya.
Ipinaliwanag ni Bersales na dahil walang detalye sa buhay ni Lapu-Lapu kaya maraming inimbentong kasaysayan ukol dito.
Go: Lapu-Lapu taga-Sulu; sinopla ng historian
