Global pandemic meets 500th anniversary of 1st global voyage by Christopher Torchia, The Associated Press Posted Dec 31, 2020 10:31 am EDT Last Updated Dec 31, 2020 at 10:44 am EDT The Statue of the Sentinel of Freedom, or the Lapu Lapu Monument, stands in Manila, Philippines, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines designated April 27 as a national holiday to honor Lapu-Lapu, the chief whose men killed Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) MEXICO CITY — Disease, mutinies and uncharted waters nearly sabotaged the global circumnavigation of the expedition led by Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan. Five centuries later, the pandemic looms as a Spanish navy tall ship sails to commemorate the feat.