Cebu mayor assails ad for Lapu-Lapu ‘mockery’

CEBU CITY—The mayor of Lapu-Lapu City is protesting a diaper advertisement on TV that was shot in a setting that depicted the historic Battle of Mactan, saying she did not find it amusing.

Mayor Paz Radaza also demanded an apology from the producers of the advertisement and the manufacturers of the diaper that the TV ad is promoting.

She said the ad was a “grave insult to Oponganons (Lapu-Lapu residents) and Filipinos in general.”

“As good corporate citizens, they must help preserve the lessons of history, not mock it with crass commercialism,” Radaza said in a statement.

The diaper ad showed Portuguese conquistador Ferdinand Magellan bringing a box full of diapers for Lapu-Lapu’s son in a gesture of friendship when the Spaniards landed on what is now known as Mactan Island.

The ad showed Lapu-Lapu’s wife protesting because the diapers were of low quality. Instead, she presented EQ Diapers. Lapu-Lapu raised his sword and challenged Magellan to a battle, as if the Battle of Mactan started over diapers.

“Distorting history and making the Battle of Mactan look funny on TV is a lame excuse to promote a product,” she said.

Radaza said she was disturbed when she heard children talk about the ad and consider “it as a true reflection of history.”

She said the ad was a mockery of the bravery that Lapu-Lapu and his men showed in the Battle of Mactan.