A little-known chapter in Philippine history is about the siege of the last Spanish outpost in the Philippines. I actually did not know that this last “episode” ending the 333 years of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines occurred, until I received an invitation from the Philippine Consulate General in Barcelona to the “125 Years of Philippine Friendship: Commemorating The Return To Barcelona Of Los Ultimos De Filipinas & The Filipino Role in Their Journey Home.”
All that we were taught in school was that, following their defeat in the Spanish-American War, particularly in the decisive Battle of Manila Bay, Spain surrendered and ceded the Philippines to the United States under the Treaty of Paris of December 1, 1898, and then left our country.
We were not taught by our history teachers that during the Philippine Revolution of 1896, Spain established a garrison of 50 soldiers in the remote town of Aurora, Baler in order to prevent the Filipino rebels from receiving smuggled arms.
Baler was reachable only by ship or by traversing on foot through nearly impassable jungle trails across the Sierra Madre Mountain range that was often washed out by torrential tropical rains.
In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, the Filipino rebels allied themselves with the American forces. The Spanish soldiers occupied the San Luis de Tolosa Church, which was the only stone building in Baler, and its compound. The soldiers dug and constructed a well, stocking food supplies and ammunition, and fortified the compound against a possible attack.
In June of 1898, 800 Filipino troops surrounded Baler and attacked the Spanish soldiers who fell back to the church. The town priest joined them. During the siege, the Filipinos made several attempts to get the Spanish troops to surrender but the latter did not. As the siege wore on, the food supply of the Spaniards started to diminish.
Before and at the beginning of the siege, they had several provisions of food, canned goods, wine, sugar and coffee. They also planted vegetables. Unfortunately, they did not store any salt. Soon, as the siege progressed, many of the Spanish soldiers died of diseases – high fever, beriberi, dysentery – more than from the bullets. The Spanish soldiers did not, however, surrender, but resolutely vowed to fight down to the last man.
Cut off from any communication from the outside, they also believed that Spain was winning the war. Little did they know that the war ended and Spain already surrendered and ceded the Philippines to the United States.
Emissaries had been sent to talk to them but they were not believed by the garrison. Soon, the Filipino rebels had declared independence and fought the Americans.
When the Catholic Church made a special request to the Americans to rescue the Spanish troops, the Americans sent their soldiers to Baler but they were also repelled by the Filipino rebels.
The Spanish troops continued to defend their outpost and even after they received notes and messages that Spain lost the war, they dismissed them as mere propaganda or “ruse de guerre” to make them give up the garrison and surrender. The soldiers soon ran out of food and resorted to eating cockroaches, snails, reptiles, crows, stray dogs and cats. The thought of cannibalism also entered their minds.
Months passed when a ceasefire was agreed upon and a Spanish officer, Lt. Col. Cristobal Aguilar, attempted to speak with the soldiers but he was turned away. He, however, passed on to the garrison recent Spanish newspapers which reported that Spain lost the war and surrendered to the United States. They ignored the newspapers as fake and propaganda. However, when their Commander, Lt. Saturnino Cerezo, read an article regarding a close friend’s posting a plan of which only Cerezo knew, the Commander was convinced that the newspapers brought earlier by Cristobal Aguilar were genuine and that Spain had actually lost the war.
On June 2, 1899, Lt. Martin Cerezo led his men in surrendering to the Filipinos. Thus, ended the siege in Baler as the remaining 33 of the 54 Spanish soldiers stood proud when the mournful sound of the bugle signalled the lowering of the red and gold emblem of the Kingdom of Spain—the last symbol of the 333-year Iberian reign in the Philippines.
They were repatriated to Spain, reaching Barcelona in September 1899. Lieutenant Cerezo and his men were warmly welcomed as heroes, together with their deceased comrades, for their bravery and fortitude in defending the last outpost of Spain in the Philippines, which is considered by some historians as the end of the Spanish Empire.
