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Due to its size and weight, the kampilan is often preferred for headhunting. It is also accompanied by a breakaway scabbard so a warrior may draw the kampilan and slash an opponent in one motion. In the Magellan and Lapu-Lapu article published by The National Quincentennial Committee, the kampilan was the cutlass identified as having cut down the wounded Magellan before stumbling in the water and being overwhelmed by Lapu-Lapu’s warriors.

Parts of Kampilan

  1. Gumba (decorative hair)
  2. Sooang (hilt)
  3. Ampa (guard)
  4. Garanang (sharpened edge)
  5. Bakukum (blade)
  6. Sokot (tip)


Wiley, Mark V. “Collection | Penn Museum | A Collection of Philippine Arms and Armor In the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.” Mapping Philippine Material Culture. Accessed September 20, 2021. https://philippinestudies.uk/mapping/collections/show/363.


Filhistorydotcom. Parts of the Moro longsword kampilan are indicated in the two major dialects of Mindanao Island, i.e., Maranao and Maguindanao.


Sources: Robert Cato’s Moro Swords (1996) and Irene Hassan et al.’s Tausug-English Dictionary (1994, Summer Institute of Linguistics). 2009. Digital Image. 800 × 521 pixels. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kampilan_moro_parts_components.jpg


Image Source: Nayong Pilipino Foundation, Kampilan, Digital Archival Photo, ‪4,272 x 2,848‬ pixels. NPF- Ethnographic Collection.


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