Reflecting on the contributions of national heroes to Philippines independence, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones underscored that physique and age should not be the basis of being a hero but on one’s persistence and commitment to fight any challenge instead.

In her message at the Department’s simultaneous flag-raising ceremony recently in celebration of the Battle of Mactan’s 500th anniversary, Secretary Briones mentioned a new development from a European historian that described the first Filipino hero Lapu-Lapu as a “pudgy 70-year-old man,” disproving earlier claims of his fit body.

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