Monday, July 9, 2007

Baler

Baler is such an isolated town. Being far away from modern ways of life, Baler is a place of refuge for tired mind, body and soul. Although in the past years it has been known to be an undeveloped place, I’ve seen Baler aim to improve its town, in terms of development in agriculture and infrastructure. There might still be a long way to go, but with dedication and determination from its people including its public servants, I know someday Baler and the whole province of Aurora will come forward from its isolation.

I have lived in this place for more than three months and I have seen the potential of the province. In our attempt to promote Baler and the whole province of Aurora we produced this video four years ago with the goal of obtaining funding from foreign countries particularly Spain.

We were successful in our goal. At present Aurora province is continuously being supported by the Spanish government.

I hope you’ll enjoy the beauty of Baler.


Friendship and Memories

This video production is based on the insights and personal accounts of Senator Edgardo J. Angara, the principal author of the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day law, during his trip to Spain. He visited the hometowns of the Spanish survivors during the siege of Baler. The Spanish soldiers were regarded as heroes for their act of bravery during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines.

I had a great time working on this project. The video was presented in a dinner party hosted by the then Spain's Ambassador to the Philippines, H.E. Tomas Rodriguez-Pantoja together with the other senators who co-authored the bill on Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day. After the presentaion I was congratulated by everyone. I was delighted at that time and it was a really nice experience.

The Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day


It is a story of uncommon valor.

In June 1898, about fifty Spanish soldiers held out inside the stone church of Baler, refusing to surrender. Baler being so isolated from the capital city, Captain Enrique de Las Morenas y Fossi, the commander of the fifty soldiers, knew nothing about the defeat of the Spanish fleet in Cavite by Commodore George Dewey on May 1, 1898.

Refusing to believe that Spain has been defeated, the Spanish troupe continues to fight against the Filipino revolutionaries. Several times when Filipinos tried to convince the Spanish about the defeat by sending copies of newspaper announcing that the war is over. But the Spanish troupe stand firm in their decision to fight till the end, ignoring all the news and regarding it as a trick.

In September 1898 Captain Enrique de Las Morenas died of Beriberi and Lt. Saturnino Martin-Cerezo toke over the command.

In any event, on the 28th of May, 1899 there was yet another attempt to get Martin Cerezo to surrender when again, another Spanish officer appeared under a flag of truce and was turned away. Before leaving he left among other items, a copy of a Madrid newspaper which the lieutenant dismissed as bogus. However the paper contained an article in the social column concerning the upcoming wedding of a fellow officer he knew in Malaga. Since there was no way the Filipinos could have known many of the facts in the column including the name of the bride and her parents with whom he was also familiar, Martin Cerezo realized that the paper he held in his hand was genuine and that indeed Spain had lost the war.

After 337 days the Spanish troupe surrendered. As the massive door of the church opened, the trumpet of surrender was sounded and the Filipinos who laid siege to the church shouted, ‘Amigos! Amigos!’ as a total of 33 survivors filed out into the churchyard.

Then President Emilio Aguinaldo went a step further when he issued a decree in June 30, which honored the ‘uncommon valor’ of the Spanish soldiers. Aguinaldo also gave them safe conduct passes and allowed their immediate transport to Spain. This was the first official gesture of reconciliation between the Philippines and Spain after a long and bitter war.

On September 1, 1899, the thirty-three survivors, including Martin-Cerezo, arrived in Barcelona where they were received and honored as heroes.



The decree issued by President Emilio Aguinaldo on June 30th to honor the bravery of the Spanish soldiers was the basis of the passage of the law on celebrating the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day.

By virtue of R.A. 9187, principally authored by Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, June 30 of each year is now be celebrated by the country (Philippines) as the Philippines-Spanish Friendship Day. The law essentially recognizes the friendship and shared historical and cultural values between the Philippines and Spain.
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I was proud to be a part of the first celebration of the Philippine Spanish Friendship Day in the Philippines. I have uploaded a short video presentaion that my team produced. It was shown on the debate floor before Senator Edgardo J. Angara deliver his speech informing fellow legislators on the important meaning of this certain account in the Philippine history.