Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu Mayor Junard Chan has announced that Lapu-Lapu, the Filipino hero who fought the Spaniards at the Battle of Mactan is being featured in the new P5,000 commemorative banknote and medal.
The new P5,000 bill is the country’s highest cash denomination so far.
Chan presented to the media the commemorative banknote which bears the serial number LL000291.
The issuance of the banknote is part of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations of the victory in Mactan Island.
The mayor said he and his wife Cindi attended the launching of the P5,000 commemorative bill and silver commemorative medal in a ceremony at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Cindi is the chair of the city’s Tourism, Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission.
“In case you receive this new bill, you won’t have doubts on receiving it.”
“This is to inform the public and our consumers that if in case you receive this new bill, you won’t have doubts on receiving it,” he said in Cebuano, stressing that the new bill is expected to be available to the public but is not intended for circulation.
“The city takes pride in having well-known Filipino hero Lapu-Lapu on the new bill,” Tan stressed.
“Lapu-Lapu’s face only used to appear on one centavo coin during the 1970s.”
He recalled that Lapu-Lapu’s face only used to appear on one centavo coin during the 1970s.
Chan cited Lapu-Lapu’s heroism being the first to fight against Spanish invaders led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
The new banknote features the portrait of a young Lapu-Lapu to make it consistent in the enhanced New Generation Currency banknotes.
The commemorative banknote’s front side includes an image of the battle of Mactan, the logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations (QCP) in the Philippines, and the Karaoka or the large outrigger warships used by indigenous Filipino communities.
The back side of the note depicts the Manaol or the Philippine eagle, a symbol of “clear vision, freedom, and strength; and which embodies the ancient Visayan belief that all living creatures originated from an eagle,” the central bank said.
Other historical details on the reverse side include a coconut tree — the people of Samar served Ferdinand Magellan and his crew coconuts — and Mount Apo, where Magellan’s crew found directional clues going to their intended destination of Maluku or the Spice Islands.
Meanwhile, the commemorative medal features an image of Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Cebu and the logos of BSP and QCP while the reverse side shows a rendition of the Battle of Mactan and the date “27 April 1521.”