Gov doesn’t want airport renamed

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is not keen on changing the name of the airport in Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan.

"Personally, I would wish for it to be continued to be named as Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) because that was how it was always known and, further, it recognizes the fact that the airport is in Cebu," Garcia told reporters.

Rep. Paz Radaza, the former mayor of Lapu-Lapu City, has filed a bill to rename the airport to Lapu-Lapu Airport, saying it should pay homage to the local chieftain of Mactan who fought Spanish conquerors in defense of Cebu’s sovereignty.

To this day, Lapu-Lapu City commemorates the historic Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521 through a re-enactment of the battle that killed Ferdinand Magellan.

But Garcia said changing MCIA to Lapu-Lapu Airport would remove Cebu from the airport’s name.

"Kung ilisdan pa ta na, murag mawala na ang pangalan sa Cebu, and nindot man gyud na nga permi madungog atong pangan para it’s in everybody’s psyche. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? (If we change it, Cebu will be removed from the name, and it’s always better that we hear the word Cebu so that it will be in everybody’s psyche)," Garcia said.

Aside from House Bill 2222 that seeks to change the airport’s name, Radaza also filed two other bills to pay homage to Lapu-Lapu.

House Bill 2221 seeks to declare April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day and a regular national holiday to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Mactan. Radaza wants the day called Lapu-Lapu Day or Adlaw ni Lapu-Lapu.

Meanwhile, House Bill 2223 aims to “rectify, correct, and give justice to the honorable name of Lapu-Lapu as our hero” by removing it as name of a fish.

Radaza said it is alarming that more and more people refer to the Plectropomus leopardus, a fish that is popular in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, as Lapu-Lapu when, in fact, people in the past referred to it as “Pugapo”.

Radaza said calling the fish Lapu-Lapu is a form of disrespect to the national hero. — JMO (FREEMAN)