Berneth Manalo BSBA 1-A

Althea Marundan
Dianne Magsombol
Julius Lastimosa
Lanz Rosales

Comparative Analysis of Pigafetta’s Journal and Lapu-lapu Film

Our world has various hypotheses regarding its beginning, some of which are
reasonable due to strong evidence, but how did we obtain this evidence concerning our
world's past? That is where the term “History” and studying it came about. History
gained the definition of “the past of mankind” for it is the study of human beliefs and
desires, behaviours, development and growth, and institutions. History is very important
for our world and the people for this is where we can grow from the past in order to look
forward to the future. Our country, the Philippines, has also recorded a lot of history
within the country’s development and the Filipinos’ growth throughout the years. But
where did the recording of important events start? One of the primary sources about the
first Europeans to land in the Philippines was recorded during Magellan’s voyage
around the world, their arrival in Zamal [Samar], and the battle in Mactan. Antonio
Pigafetta was one of the sobresalientes that followed Magellan on his lucrative spice
trade expedition across the world, and he kept a detailed journal about their
experiences. As we learn about the first interactions of Filipinos with Europeans, the
individuals did not hesitate to produce alternate versions of this history, such as making
a film based on Pigafetta's journal.

The film was inspired by Pigafetta’s account but not everything was the same as
what was written in his document. There are a lot of similarities like the characters,
places, events, and some scenarios, but there are also some changes or differences in
the film. A lot of characters were introduced in the film and from Pigafetta’s account,
one of them is Raia Humambon, he had more exposure in the film than from the
account of Pigafetta. Raia Humambon became the protagonist in the film because his
only desire was to have the power and title of Lapu-lapu which is his greatest enemy.
Like Raia Colambu and other Raias, he made friends with the Spaniards in order to
attack the island of Mactan and reign over the entire island of Mactan, trying to establish
himself as the highest Raia of the entire island of the Philippines, with the goal of forcing
people to pay taxes and convert them to Catholics. The similarities in the characters
and scenarios that was shown in the film and is said from Pigafetta’s account was when
Magellan arrived on a ship in the Philippines and standing behind him was his
interpreter and slave Enrique De Malacca and the Spaniards.
 There were parts of the film that were not in Pigafetta's document, implying that
the director added scenes to improve the story by letting the audience consider the
perspectives and attitudes of the other characters rather than focusing solely on Lapu-
lapu. One scene from the film that wasn’t in Pigafetta’s account is when a woman was
sexually abused by a Filipino native, and the reason was that Lapu-lapu was the leader
at that time, and a lot of people envied him, causing them to do horrible things to others.
It was also shown in the film a group of Filipino natives that were drinking and led by a
Datu named Zula who planned to start a chaos in Mactan through trading the slaves to
gold merchants. It was shown from the film and from Pigafetta’s document that a trading
happened but the difference between the two is that Pigafetta’s document has missing
parts compared to the film which is more detailed. Some scenes from the film showed
parts or backgrounds of some characters and events that were not in Pigafetta’s
account and maybe the reason behind it is for the audience to have a clearer
background just like in the scene where two girls were talking about how Lapu-lapu got
his name, and that it was from a fish called pula-pula.

In conclusion, the story tells us what we are or who we are in the past
generation. It tells us how brave we are when we are fighting for what we love or what
we have, even if it takes our life. Everything in the film and Pigafetta’s account has
some differences from the history or recording history, but the film was inspired by the
journal writer Antonio Pigafetta. The film added some backgrounds, characters, and
scenarios for this reason to have a clear or better understanding from the audience of
the life of Magellan in the Philippines.