The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) on Monday launched the P5,000 Lapulapu Commemorative Banknote and Medal to kickoff the 99-day countdown to the 500th anniversary of the “Victory at Mactan.”

In rites held at the Fort San Antonio Abad in the BSP Complex in Manila, BSP Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Francisco Dakila, Jr. and Senior Assistant Governor Dahlia D. Luna presented the banknote and medal to Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, who received the items on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The BSP and NCQ have collaborated on this commemorative banknote and medal to celebrate the heroism of Lapulapu and his warriors, and to familiarize the present generation with the country’s rich pre-colonial history,” said Dakila.

The celebration of the 500th anniversary of Lapulapu’s victory and the special part the Philippines played in the world’s circumnavigation are collectively referred to as the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines (QCP).

On its obverse, the banknote depicts a young Lapulapu, an image of the battle of Mactan, the QCP logo, and the Karaoka, the large outrigger warships used by native Filipinos.

Meanwhile, the reverse shows the Philippine eagle, or the Manaol, which symbolizes clear vision, freedom and strength; and which embodies the ancient Visayan belief that all living creatures originated from an eagle.

Also featured are the tree of a coconut, which was food the people of Samar provided to Ferdinand Magellan and his crew; and Mount Apo, which is located in Mindanao, where the circumnavigators finally found directional clues to their intended destination of Maluku or the Spice Island.

The medal, on the other hand, features on the obverse the markings, “Lapulapu,” above an image of the Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Cebu; and the logos of the QCP and the BSP.

Its reverse shows the markings “Battle of Mactan,” a rendition of the said battle, and the date “27 April 1521.”  CURRENTPH