President Rodrigo Duterte said he was “uncomfortable” that a monument of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu province was bigger than that of Lapulapu, the Filipino hero that defeated him in the Battle of Mactan.

Duterte said when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2016, he visited Cebu, where, “Iyong statue ni Magellan, mas malaki doon sa statue ni LapuLapu.”

(The statue of Magellan was bigger than the statue of Lapulapu.)

“I respect whoever whose opinion or decision was that. But I am very uncomfortable ako to see a statue of LapuLapu smaller than the statue of Magellan,” he said in a taped meeting with officials, which aired on Tuesday.

“There was a crowd and I told them if I make it to the presidency, I will see to it that the statue of Lapulapu will be bigger than the statue of Magellan,” the President continued.

Duterte appeared to be referring to the Mactan Shrine, which features a monument of Lapulapu and a stone obelisk dedicated to Magellan.

He told Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles to relay to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, “The President requested you to go there and try to look at the situation without offending the inhabitants there.”

“It should always be mas malaki ang kay Lapulapu. Hindi naman malaki ang gastusin natin d’yan. Cemento lang ‘yan ata,” Duterte said.

“Ang hero ko is Lapulapu, not Magellan. Although nirerespeto ko ‘yong pagkatao niya even if he’s there, dead, bakit ganoon? He was an intruder in our country, he fought with Magellan.”

(Lapulapu’s should always be bigger. The expenses for that won’t be huge. Perhaps it will just be cement. My hero is Lapulapu, not Magellan. Although I respect him even if he’s there dead, why is like that? He was an intruder in our country.)

Lapulapu and his warriors defeated Western firepower led by Magellan in the shores of Mactan on April 27, 1521.

• Duterte orders: It's 'Lapulapu', not 'Lapu-Lapu'
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