Bills proposing the renaming of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport after Lapu-Lapu on or before the commemoration of the 500th year of his bravery and heroism have been met by strong opposition during a recent committee deliberation.

Deputy Speaker and Cebu Rep. Pablo John Garcia said there is no “compelling reason” to change the airport’s name as he pointed out that this move would only “erase more than 50 years of history of the airport.”

Garcia called on the House Committee on Transportation to also consider the position of other provincial leaders, more in particular officials of the provincial government now headed by his sister, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

However, Garcia is facing a formidable force of supporters of the measure that includes Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, who co-authored one of the pending bills.

Ian Alfonso, who represented the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chairman Rene Escalante, told lawmakers that President Duterte had also declared his full support to the adoption of Lapu-Lapu’s name to identify the MCIA.

Reacting to Garcia’s objection, Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Paz Radaza clarified that there is no intention to “erase” the historical significance of the current name.

“When we change the name into Lapu-Lapu Innernational Airport, we are not honoring the place, we are honoring Lapu-Lapu, the hero. Lapu-Lapu is the hero not only of Lapu-Lapu City but also of the whole nation,” she stressed.

The former Lapu-Lapu City mayor authored House Bill 2222, one of the two bills being discussed by the House Committee on Transportation panel chaired by Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento.

Committee deliberation on the bills, one of which was authored by the late Cebu Rep. Raul del Mar, was deferred to allow a select group of panel members to discuss it with Velasco who was not present during the hearing.

“The chair deems it necessary for us to discuss among ourselves at the Office of the Speaker at the earliest time possible. We can come up with the name and present this to the committee for a final version of the bill,” said Sarmiento.

Sarmiento underscored the urgency of passing the measure in order for it to become a law in time for the Quincentennial Commemoration of the Victory at Mactan that marked Lapu-Lapu’s demonstration of Filipino patriotism and bravery when Filipinos in fighting off an Spanish expedition led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, 1521.

Alfonso said naming the airport after Lapu-Lapu is one of the three major projects for the quincentennial celebration. One is the restoration of the Cebuano hero’s image in Philippine notes which the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas immediately granted.

Radaza supported the NHCP’s bid to have Lapu-Lapu’s name be identified with the country’s second busiest international airport, saying that the national hero who courageously led the battle against foreign colonizers deserved such honor.

However, Garcia countered that deliberation on the bill may not be considered timely as the country continues to face the COVID-19 public health threat.

“Should we really be doing this now that the economy struggles to recover against the pandemic? Do we have to spend millions of pesos again marketing a new name and brand when this resources could be put to better user for our economic recovery?” he asked.