Airdrop Post - The last stand: 337 days and nights

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A viridescent land on one side and the azure waters on the other. In between are refreshing rivers and waterfalls. Such is the land of the province of Aurora.

For now, let's talk about the town of Baler, the capital of Aurora.

LucyStephanie mentioned about this month as the history month. I only know it as the national language month. So let's start with a bit of a history of Baler.

As early as 1570, the Baler came to be known when the Spanish explorer Juan de Salcedo discovered it. Franciscan monks then started a settlement in this coastal area. Later on, the Augustinians and Recollects founded the old town then the Franciscans took over again around 1700s.

Unfortunately, the catastrophic event of 1735 destroyed the town when a tsunami washed everything to destruction. (See related article There's no way but up to Ermita Hill)

That old settlement is now known as Kinagunasan. The place where the new Baler is located now is called Poblacion.

The word Baler may have come from the various sources. One is from a woman's name "Vale." It could also be from the "balod," a local word for dove. I like the Dumagat's word though, "balid," which means to return. After what happened to the old town, the new town was built and thus the return of the town of Baler. Dumagat (those who live by the sea or dagat) is the name of a tribe who lives on the coasts of Aurora.

Although Baler can be reached by sea or through the dense jungle of the Sierra Madre, it has seen action throughout history.

One significant part of Baler's history was called the Siege of Baler. After the Philippines was declared free from the Spanish regime after 300 plus years, Baler was attacked by Filipino troops. The Spanish soldiers who were garrisoned there were not aware that the war was over. They have no communication from the outside world. Even if newspapers at that time stating the war was over was shown to them, they still did not believe it. Envoys were sent and an attempt to rescue them ended in vain. The siege lasted for almost a year - 337 days to be exact. Many have died and the remaining were able to go home to Spain. Films were made about this siege.

The Japanese then came in 1942 and garrisoned themselves in the school buildings. They didn't stay for long for in 1945, it was again taken over by the Filipino and American soldiers.

Source 1 Source 2

Luis Yee, Jr. created this monument that you can see in town. It's a towering four-pillar structure with each pillar representing 100 years. This marks the 400 years of history of Baler surviving disasters and wars. This was inaugurated in August 2011 and funded by the Angaras - one of the families that survived the tsunami attack in the old town of Baler.

Here you can see surfboards which indicate that Baler has one of the best surfing spots in the country.

The second president of the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon, was a Balereno. That earned him a statue at the center of the park. This park is across the street from where the monument above is located.

Behind the statue is the museum of Baler.

The museum has a PHP30.00 entrance fee. However, pets are not allowed and taking videos is not allowed. Here you can see artifacts that dates back during the Spanish era.

I really like this cold cast mural by Toym Imao. You can learn more about this Filipino artist here. This mural tells the story of the years of Spanish here until the last ones to leave which were the soldiers during the Siege of Baler.

The the left of the museum is the replica of the house that Manuel Quezon grew up. This is called Casa de Maestro Lucio.

From the park, let's go visit the greeneries around. We visited the coconut farm of a family friend. It took us a while to find it for we are not familiar with the place and we passed by fields and fields of greens. It was refreshing.

Upon arrival to the farm, we had to call for the coconut man to come get some coconuts which we brought home.

From there let's go visit Mariah Carey in Baler, Aurora. From the beach, you can cool off in these waterfalls.

Before that, let us spend time Remembering that time in Diguisit. Here you can check out Zabali Lighthouse and Diguisit Beach.

Finally, before we go home always remember There's no way but up to Ermita Hill. Come and see the magnificent view on top of this hill.

So you see, there are many things to do in Baler alone. We actually haven't explored all of the interesting spots there and these are just some of the few.

To end, I would like to share this photo taken on the roadside going to Dinadiawan (you can check here PHOTOBLOG: From Diguisit to Dinadiawan).

This rock on the right looks like a man or a woman looking at the sea with longingness. It seems to be waiting for someone for a long time.

Here is my smartBCH address: 0xBa5AB016c3E6D6F0b6EDdE9b260077D4A52325c0

This ends my ARTICLEE challenge. Did you notice? Let me know if you did.

This article is the summary of our visit in Baler and in Dinadiawan. To those who have been following my blogs, you are already familiar with the links I provided there. For those who are not, feel free to check them out. A related article is this It's true. They are falls.

Aurora has a lot of things to offer and should be explored.

What history would you want to share for this month?