MANILA—The historically correct spelling of the name of Filipino hero Lapulapu is without a hyphen, the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) said.

In a Facebook post Saturday, the committee cited as basis the recorded name of Lapulapu in Antonio Pigafetta’s chronicle of the Magellan-Elcano expedition spelled as "Çilapulapu."

It explained that the “Çi” in the recorded name was most likely the ancient honorific title "Si," an indigenous form of the Hindu title "Sri" or gentleman.

The post was published on the anniversary of President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of April 27 as Lapulapu Day.

The committee said it made the clarification because Lapulapu "will be the central figure of the quincentennial and that having two names for the hero will just confuse our countrymen."

The NQC is tasked to lead government preparations for the 500th anniversary of the victory of Filipinos led by Lapulapu in the Battle of Mactan and other related events in 1521.

It added that the clarification will help Congress and the Office of the President in the renaming of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport either as Lapulapu-Cebu International Airport or Lapulapu International Airport.

"Nonetheless, the NQC will continue to respect the way Lapulapu is spelled in the past books and popular readings. What the NQC and the NHCP would like is for the Filipino people to first and foremost, stick to what is written in the historical documents," the committee said.