Where is Lapu-Lapu’s earring?

Without doubt, the airing by GMA News of “Philippine Treasures” last Sept. 11 gave a tremendous boost to archaeology and a renewed interest about the nation’s ancient past. The 90-minute documentary, which identified some of the important cultural treasures of the country, was a rush of adrenaline to a society beset by so much pessimism and insecurity amid a morass of maldevelopment, poverty and the outmigration of its best and brightest. Through the documentary, GMA News successfully reminded us Filipinos where we have been and why we should take care of our heritage.

On a more personal note, it was my first time to watch the footages taken by the team led by John Consulta and Bryan Brazil way back in early June while we were excavating in Boljoon town, southeastern Cebu. I do not know what came over me but there it was, a big mistake aired over national television, beamed live also on other cable channels abroad. When John asked me if Lapu-Lapu wore an earring like the one we recovered from Burial 20, a probable 25- to 35-year-old male, I recounted Pigafetta’s description of Rajah Humabon but inadvertently used Lapu-Lapu’s name.

That led to a spin-off as to the possibility that the earring may have been owned by Lapu-Lapu. That is, of course, farthest from the truth. When a second set of shots had to be made, this time at Museo Sugbo sometime in August, I made sure that the English translation of Pigafetta’s description of Humabon would be included in the episode in order to situate the mention of the earring we found. Indeed, as I was later shown, one can develop a story about the possibility of the earring having been Lapu-Lapu’s.

But I immediately followed it up with this line, “But how can you prove that story? You cannot, of course.” This clarification unfortunately did not get into the show but my colleague, the historian Jojin Pascual’s retort did: “History is like a jigsaw puzzle where we have only five pieces,” implying that the full picture is not before us and more and much more archaeological work had to be done. And yet, indeed, one can imagine the possibility that this may have been Lapu-Lapu’s, which for a thousand possible reasons, eventually reached Boljoon and got buried about 80 years after the Battle of Mactan.

After the show, I got a flurry of text messages from friends and my Facebook account also had postings (including one from Dubai) asking who really owned the earring. My curt reply was this: “Nobody knows.” That is also what “Philippine Treasures” implied if one hears carefully Mel Tiangco’s summation of that segment that whoever this earring belonged to, it is now part of the treasures of this country, this “mahiwagang hikaw” (mysterious earring).

The following day, Ronald Villanueva, a heritage advocate in Boljoon who supervised the setting up of the archaeological gallery at the Boljoon Parish Museum called me up to report that scores of Boljoanons were at the museum to see this mysterious earring. Rey Estrada, one of the three Museo Sugbo curators, also reported having visitors coming over to look for the earring at the Museo. One even angrily left in a huff when told that it was not Lapu-Lapu’s and that it was in Boljoon.

What took me three years to urge the majority of Boljoanons to see our excavated finds at their own museum had finally been fulfilled through “Philippine Treasures.” Now all those stories about the University of San Carlos and National Museum team carting away all the gold we dug from Boljoon have finally been silenced. And for this I thank GMA and the people behind “Philippine Treasures.”

So where indeed are Lapu-Lapu’s earrings? Your guess is as good as mine.

(If you have not seen the show, I believe the segments are on YouTube.)

* * *

Fr. Generoso “Jun” Rebayla Jr., SVD, the USC  vice president for finance, turned 50 last Sunday, and to mark the occasion, USC Museum installed 50 of his stunning photography at its Institutional History Gallery. These photographs form part of a large portfolio of landscapes, portraits, streetscapes and macro-images Fr. Jun made since 2007. To view the exhibit, please call the USC Museum at Tel. 253-1000 loc. 191 or just go to the USC Main Campus where the museum is located. Happy birthday, Fr. Jun!