Revisiting Baler

BY JOHANNA D. POBLETE, Reporter

http://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender071009/main.php?id=focus2

Fireworks fill the sky during the celebration of Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day in Baler, Aurora Province — Sylwin Solidum Tourists usually make their way to Baler in the Province of Aurora on a whim, this being a sleepy little town nestled amid the mountains of the Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean.

The road trip takes a rough six hours from Manila; it’s a shorter and smoother ride by plane. Venture across the waters and you’ll hit Hawaii; but usually the wave goes the other way, with surfers descending on Baler every February. However, when the sea is flat in June, visitors are usually history buffs gravitating towards the town church.

The Church of Baler is a small, unprepossessing — and upon entering, slightly lopsided — structure originally made from brick and stone in 1611, two years after the town’s foundation. Reconstructed in 1939, the floor is patterned stone and striated marble; hanging on the walls are the requisite wood carvings of the Stations of the Cross, all of them nicked, and some missing pieces. The sense of awe one feels isn’t because of any physical blandishments the church possesses, but rather the knowledge of all it has withstood in 400 years, particularly the famous Siege of Baler that led to a truce and eventual trust between the Philippines and Spain. 2009, the year designated as the "Year of Baler" (Proclamation No. 1696), marks the quadricentennial of the town’s foundation and the 110th anniversary of the Siege of Baler. Festivities, including a cultural night of performances and fireworks, peaked on June 30, the day declared as "Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day" (Republic Act No. 9187). This is traceable to a decree by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the revolutionary government, that the Spanish soldiers who fought in Baler be treated "not as prisoners, but as friends," issued on June 20, 1898 in Tarlac — 18 days after the church siege ended with cries of "Amigos! Amigos!" (Friends! Friends!).

It is this act of gallantry from the Filipino revolutionaries, the acknowledgment of the bravery of the Spanish soldiers, and the unlikely friendship that sprung forthwith, that is commemorated every year. The church is basically the same structure, with the same four walls that harbored the men, minus a perimeter wall that the Spaniards had built to defend the main entrance — this according to Fr. Pedro Galende, curator of the San Agustin Museum and officiator of the celebratory mass during the commemorative activities last month. The church site is really the heart of Baler, the one stone edifice among 213 nipa huts in the early years, the surviving structure after a devastating tsunami in 1735, and the bastion to which the Spanish garrison — sent to replace another killed by Filipino troops — clung to, staving off starvation, the ravages of scurvy and dysentery, and the effects of bullet wounds. In total, the siege lasted one month short of a year (from June 27, 1898 to June 2, 1899), extending 15 days after the proclamation of Philippine Independence from Spain. The Spanish garrison resisted offers of peace and demands for surrender on five occasions. They were unconvinced that the Spanish government in Manila had already surrendered to the Americans on Aug. 13, up until dropped newspapers reporting that Spain had lost the war were finally believed. By then, two officers, the priest and 12 men had already died from disease, two men had died from insurgent bullets, two men had been executed, six had deserted, and of the 33 survivors, the two remaining officers and 14 soldiers had been wounded.

Reportedly, Corporal Jesus Garcia Quijano was the first Spanish soldier to be wounded on the first day of the siege, and survived the 337 days with a bullet in his foot. His grandson, Jesus Valbuena, would later make an 83-minute documentary, Returning to the Siege of Baler, telling the story from the Spanish point of view — that the Spanish soldiers were for the most part very young, too poor to pay their way out of military service, shipped to an alien colony to fight a war they did not understand, with some admittedly "behaving badly" in reaction, while others acted with nobility.

Mr. Valbuena noted that the Siege of Baler is unique because of three unprecedented facts. First, it is the longest siege in modern history, and so from a strictly military and historical point of view, the duration and the way the Spanish protected themselves is of interest and has actually been taken as a reference in the military academies in the US. Second, the behavior of the winners to the losers is highly unusual, with no other account of an occupier, an invader, leaving "with honors" from the winner. Third, it is the first time in history that a formerly colonized nation unilaterally declares a day of friendship with a former colonizer.

(In a speech, Senator Edgardo Angara noted that the Philippines is the only former colony of Spain willing to acknowledge any relationship at all. Further, according to the National Historical Institute, Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day is the only commemorative date formalized by law; the same cannot be said for friendship days with Japan and the US).

Now an "adopted son" of Baler, Mr. Valbuena is proud to say he is "taga-Baler" (of Baler) and admits to being "very taken by the universal spirit of the people of this town," from stories told by his grandfather (who died in 1947), and from his own research on the other Spanish soldiers. The church in Baler — the site of the longest siege in modern history; one of the participants in the celebration dressed up in a revolutionary war rayadillo uniform. "I think it was the very noble reaction of the town of Baler that saved their lives. The war had ended many months before, these were 33 youngsters who obeyed orders, there was shared history, and there was no hate in the people of Baler... The people of Baler gave them food, clothing, medicinal plants... [The Spanish soldiers] had to go back to Manila on foot. They left the church on June 2, and they arrived in Spain on Sept. 1. Thanks to the reaction of the people of Baler I am alive," he told BusinessWorld.

Luis Arias, ambassador of Spain to the Philippines, observed that this moment in history offers extremely worthy lessons, particularly in an era where confrontations, usually between states and terrorist groups, are not as clear-cut.

"The Philippine treatment of the Spanish soldiers of Baler must remind us that there is one rule that we should never break: the love and respect for human life and of the innocent member of society... 333 years of colonial relationship ended, despite the war between our two nations, with a note of deep true friendship that we commemorate, and most important, we keep alive today," he said.

While there are Filipinos who may consider the reconciliation between colonized and colonizer to be a shade ironic, National Historical Institute Chairman Ambeth Ocampo maintains that the anticolonialism of the 1960s — days of throwing out the foreign and going "back to the bahag (g-string)" — has outlived its use, and that Filipinos should take a more all-encompassing view of their own history.

"If you look at our history, all we see is the revolution, the last quarter of the 19th century. You do not see the 400 years of Spain... It’s Spain that made us a nation. We were scattered little islands, what made us into one geographic unit with a name, Filipinas, was really Spain. In a sense, I’d like to think that if we actually push the history backward, and we look at 400 years, looking at the good, and looking at the bad, you’ll see it actually cancels out. It’s good to look at history to see a common past, and also to use it to see a common future," he told BusinessWorld.

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http://batangbaler.net/angara-acknowledges-the-contribution-of-the-sons-of-baler-in-thetwo- ccountries-amity/

As the country celebrates Phil-Spanish Friendship Day, Senator Edgardo J. Angara today recognized and lauded the continued support of the three adopted sons of Baler in fostering good country interrelationship between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Spain.

“The continuous respect and support for historical connection of these adopted sons of Baler shows the incessant friendship between our country and Spain. The mutual friendship and affection between these two countries symbolizes cultural and historical tie between our madre patria and its previous colonizer,” informed Angara who chairs the Philippine-Spanish Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Under the Republic Act 9187, which Senator Angara authored, June 30 of every year is celebrated as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day in recognition of the day when President Emilio Aguinaldo acclaimed the gallantry and fidelity of the Spanish soldiers who were besieged in the Church of Baler in 1898. President Aguinaldo in June 30, 1899 signed a decree that pronounced the thirty-five Spanish soldiers who survived the siege as friends and not prisoners of war. In history, fifty Spanish soldiers from the 400 soldiers of the Spanish garrison in Biak-na-Bato arrived in February 1898.

Led by Capt. Enrique de las Morenas, the Spanish contingents assembled at the Baler Church on June 27, 1898 for their safety and security. Knowing that the church housed the Spaniards, the locals, led by Teodorico Luna Novicio, with their desire to free their motherland from colonization, attacked the church by surrounding it on the following day. Only when 2nd Lieutenant Saturnino Martin Cerezo read the Spanish newspaper El Imparcial which announced that the war is over did the Spaniards surrendered. The three adopted sons of Baler are: Exequiel Sabarillo Salvilla, a Filipinista in Spain who founded the research on the Siege of Baler in 1985; Jose Ignacio Bidon, a leading practitioner and professor of law in Sevilla who also promoted a football cooperation program between Andalusia and the Philippine Football Federation; and Jesus Angel Valbuena Garcia, who wrote and directed a TV a historical documentary Los Hijos de Baler and a full-length film entitled Returning to the Siege of Baler.

Gracing the event is Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who will also lead the wreath laying ceremonies at the Church of Baler together with His Excellency Amb. Luis Arias Romero from the Kingdom of Spain. Various dignitaries will also witness the event including: His Excellency Amb. Alistair Macdonald of the European Union; His Excellency Amb.Kulkumut Singhara Ayudhaya of Thailand; His Excellency Amb. Tomas Calvillo Unna from Mexico; His Excellency Amb. Jorge Rey Jimenez of Cuba; and Mr. Manuel Perez Iturbe of Venezuela. Mr. Ambeth Ocampo, Chairperson of National Historical Institute, Mrs. Vilma Labrador of National Center for Culture and the Arts, Undersecretary Edcel Custodio of DFA International Economic Relations, Asst. Secretary V ictoria Bataclan of DFA-European Affairs will also be present in the event.

The celebration will be highlighted by the launching of commemorative stamps, film showing of the movie Baler, and the viewing of a documentary by Jesus Valbuena entitled Returning to the Siege of Baler. A cultural night composed of various performances from the UP Singing Ambassadors and the Ilongot tribes are also lined up for the event.

“This celebration is not only an important historical occasion but a celebration of the years of friendship between our country and Spain,” added Angara.