It was the last day of the fast of Lapulapu -- a fast ordered by Bathala1 through the messenger Liyongin. Gaunt, weary and weak, Lapulapu trekked the trail to Suong where his fast was to end. There, amidst the burning rocks, he wrestled with Impacto2 from sunup till sundown until Impacto lay dying on the hot rocks.

"Lapulapu," Impacto whispered, "bury my dead body in the land of Abuno3 and when you see a tree spring from my grave, take care of it for such is the tree promised to you by Bathala for the nourishment and improvement of your people. Its juice will be sweet. Its meat will be wholesome. And every part will have its own utility.4"

Lapulapu did as he was told. And shortly after, a straight and palm-like tree emerged and bore fruit. Of course, Lapulapu was the first to taste of its fruit and beheld that it was good. So, when he went on a visit to Dalisay5, near the mouth of the Opon river, he brought along a mixture of ripe and unripe fruit. On the slippery Antubong6, he slipped and lost consciousness. The ripe fruit were carried by the tide out to the sea. The unripe ones, being heavier, were not carried by the tide and drifted nearby. Lapulapu, when he regained consciousness, was able to retrieve the young fruit but of the ripe ones he could not find a trace.

The bunch of ripe fruit found their way to the shores of Talisay7. There, a curious man removed the husk from one fruit and exposed the shell of the coconut. When he beheld the similarity of the coconut shell with a human skull, he was seized with fear of being put to death for death was the punishment of those who commit murder. He buried the fruit in the soil near his home and, after time passed, forgot about it. And it was thus that the spread of the coconut to other islands started.