A CEBU lawmaker sought the passage of a bill prohibiting the calling of the grouper fish as “Lapu-Lapu,” after the Philippine hero who defeated Spaniards in the Battle of Mactan.

Cebu Rep. Paz Radaza, a former mayor of Lapu-Lapu City, filed House Bill (HB) 2233 or an “Act rectifying the dishonorable use of a great Filipino name Lapu-Lapu to a fish species ‘Plectropomus Leopardus’.”

“While we value Lapu-Lapu’s heroic act, it is ironic that his name is also being used to call a fish with the scientific name of Plectropomus leopardus,” said Radaza.





“Nowadays, it is alarming that more and more Filipinos prefer to call it Lapu-Lapu o lapulapu, a disrespect to a patriotic Filipino forebear,” she added.

Under HB 2233 the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are tasked to take the lead in the full implementation of the measure.

The Philippine Information Agency, meanwhile, is tasked to conduct an information dissemination campaign to convince Filipinos to drop lapu-lapu and instead use “Pugapu” in identifying the fish, as it is famously coined in the regions of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Local government units will be directed to help in the implementation by passing their local ordinances and disseminating information within their areas of jurisdiction.

Lapu-Lapu was identified as the first Filipino martyr who resisted foreign invasion against forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521.