The Laban sign is a Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 hand gesture

Gesture

A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...

 made by extending the thumb and index fingers pointing up, leaving the other fingers closed to create the letter L

L

Ł or ł, described in English as L with stroke, is a letter of the Polish, Kashubian, Sorbian, Łacinka , Łatynka , Wilamowicean, Navajo, Dene Suline, Inupiaq, Zuni, Hupa, and Dogrib alphabets, several proposed alphabets for the Venetian language, and the ISO 11940 romanization of the Thai alphabet...

, hence "laban" (or "fight" in English). It is sometimes mistaken for the "loser

Loser (Hand gesture)

The loser is a hand gesture made by extending the thumb and index fingers, leaving the other fingers closed to create the letter L, interpreted as "loser", and generally given as a demeaning sign. Sometimes this is accompanied by raising the hand to the giver's forehead, and sometimes it is done as...

" or the "raised gun

Finger gun

The finger gun is a hand gesture in which the subject uses their hand to mimic a handgun, raising their thumb above their fist to act as a hammer, and one or two fingers extended perpendicular to it acting as a barrel...

" gesture, and is generally given as a demeaning sign.

The gesture was popular in 1983 during the funeral of Ninoy Aquino, and in the People Power Revolution in 1986, and it became popular again during the funeral of President

President of the Philippines

The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...

 Corazon Aquino

Corazon Aquino

Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office in Philippine history. She is best remembered for leading the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines...

. This sign was also a common signature of Noynoy Aquino's campaign during the 2010 Philippine elections.