Manila Bulletin, November 23, 2005
Spanish Officials Visit Baler Town in Aurora
By Yul Malicse
A 25-member Spanish delegation led by Defense Minister Jose Bono made a sentimental trip to Baler, Aurora, yesterday to visit the remote mountain town where 50 Spanish soldiers made a history-making last stand for their country during the Philippine-Spanish war.
"Today, there are no victors and vanquished, only memories of a shared past," said Bono, visibly moved by the visit to a place where around 50 Spanish soldiers held out inside the stone church of Baler to continue fighting for a lost war in 1898.
That last stand, which ended in 1899 following the surrender of the 33 surviving soldiers, is now deeply remembered by both countries because the surviving cazadores were cited for their "uncommon valor" by the Philippine revolutionary government, the first official gesture of reconciliation after a long and bitter war.
It is now known as the "Siege of Baler" and through a law initiated by Sen. Edgardo Angara, a Baler native, June 30 of every year is now officially celebrated as the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day.
The Siege of Baler has been celebrated in films, books, photo exhibits and published articles, and the regular exchange of visitors between Baler and the Spanish towns that raised the 50 soldiers.
With Minister Bono in the Baler trip were Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Ignacio Sagaz, Senators Jaime Blanco, Hilario Caballero, and Ramon Companys, Congressman Jose Ramon Beloki, and Jesus Valbuena, a descendant of one of the 33 survivors, who is now making a film on the historic siege.
Angara said that the Siege of Baler is now remembered as a "story of friendship and shared values" rather than a story of war and conflict.
"The Siege of Baler is now a towering monument to the innate goodness and nobility of men, shattering all those ugly stereotypes of wars and conflicts," he said.
Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, also a Baler native, welcomed the Spanish visitors, thanking them and Spain for the generous assistance Spain has been granting to Baler, from coastal resource management to rural development projects.
Baler's municipal council has also passed a resolution which made Bono an adopted son of Baler.
As this developed, the Philippines and Spain have reaffirmed their mutual interest and enthusiasm for defense and security cooperation as envisioned in 1998 with the two countries' bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Defense Logistics Cooperation (DLC).
Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono had fruitful talks with Philippine defense officials led by Defense Secretary Avelino J. Cruz Jr.
In joint statement after their talks, Cruz and Bono said, "the initiatives at the level of our respective ministries/departments broaden the scope and potentials of the special and historic relationship between the Philippines and Spain."
The bilateral meeting hosted by the Department of National Defense provided a platform to revitalize the essence of the 1998 defense cooperation agreement between the two countries aimed to be beneficial in terms of exchanges in the fields of logistics, defense industry, training and education, and counter-terrorism.
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