Courage of Lapu-Lapu to resolve Spratlys dispute

What does Lapu-Lapu, the victorious chieftain of Mactan, have to do with the simmering dispute with China over parts of the Spratly Islands?

Presidential Communications Office chief Herminio “Sonny” Coloma found the connection.

Coloma, the guest of honor of Lapu-Lapu City’s annual Kadaugan sa Mactan festival, cited the courage of Lapu-Lapu as proof that Filipinos won’t easily yield their sovereignty to invaders.

In his speech, Coloma recited a verse of the Philippine national anthem: “Land, dear and holy, cradle of noble heroes, ne’er shall invaders, trample thy sacred shores,” to recall the 1521 battle between Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan.

The lines drew cheers from an estimated 3,000 who gathered at the Mactan Shrine under intense summer heat.

Coloma said he rememberd this line because it bears significance to the Sacrborough Shoal dispute.

“At a time when there are those who may be tempted to challenge our country’s sovereignty, let the courage and heroism of Datu Lapu-Lapu remind one and all that the Filipinos are a brave and noble people who will never allow invaders to trample our sacred shores,” Coloma said.

In a later talk with reporters, Coloma said the Aquino administration would exhaust all diplomatic means to resolve the tension between the two countries.

Coloma said differences between the Philippines and China could be resolved through diplomacy given their long history of friendship.

One such avenue is the cultural exchange agreement signed last September by President Benigno Aquino III and Chinese officials in his visit to China last September.

Coloma also disagreed with a proposal by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza to declare April 27 a nonworking holiday for the city.

“With all due respect on that holiday proposal, businessmen who want to invest will not necessarily be smiling because of the high number of day offs in the country,” he said.

Rather than declaring a holiday, Coloma said he would propose to change the name of the Mactan International Airport into Lapu-Lapu International Airport.

“Look at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport that is named from national hero, Ninoy who was assassinated during the Marcos regime. In the US, look at the John F. Kennedy International Airport before their former president,” Coloma said.

Coloma, who is Radaza’s office colleague in the defunct Far Eastern Bank, now known as the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said Lapu-Lapu City was cited by the Asian Institute of Management as one of the easiest cities to do business in the Philippines.