Battle of Mactan
Diorama of the Battle of Mactan-500th Year Anniversary
Historical Perspectives
The Diorama of the Battle of Mactan is a project to illustrate the real events of the battle in the educational format of what happened between the forces of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu on April 27, 1521. Both antagonists in this 16th-century drama have been long misunderstood by our fellow countrymen because of the long-standing biases, sometimes disinterest in historical narratives and mostly from lack of true, historically accurate books on this subject until the publication of the book entitled “Ferdinand Magellan. The Armada de Maluco and the European Discovery of the Philippines.” This book, published in 2016, by Dr. Danilo Madrid Gerona, is the most comprehensive narrative of the historical saga of Magellan that is based on primary sources found in Spain and Portugal.
Dr. Gerona has written a special narrative for Sulu Garden Foundation that describes the events of that momentous day on April 21, 1521 during the Battle of Mactan. During this day was the battle in which Magellan’s Conquistadores and Magellan’s Allies (Rajah Humabon and Rajah Zula) fought Rajah Lapulapu and his Mactan Allies. Because there was no written account of the battle from the point of view of Rajah Lapulapu’s warriors, this narrative is mostly based on the records by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian adventurer and chronicler, who joined Magellan’s expedition.
Here is the April 27, 1521 narrative of the Battle of Mactan by Dr. Gerona:
Sulu Garden Foundation has already begun working on this project since July 2020 and expect to complete the installation of this immense diorama by March 27, 2021.