BALER, Aurora , Philippines – Six Spanish dignitaries, led by Enrique Múgica, Defensor del Pueblo (Ombudsman) of Spain, will attend today’s eighth anniversary celebration of the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day coinciding with the 111th anniversary of the historic “Siege of Baler.”
Mugica, who carries the rank of minister/secretary in the Spanish government, will be the guest of honor in the commemoration of the Siege of Baler, where 33 soldiers holed up in a stone church in this capital town for nearly a year even after the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 had ended.
Aside from Mugica, other Spanish officials gracing the event include José Eugenio Salarich, director general for foreign policy for Asia and the Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; Spanish Ambassador Luis Arias Romero; Pedro Rolan, defense attaché of the Spanish embassy; Jose Antonio Mira, counselor of the Spanish embassy; and Jose Pepe Rodriguez, director of Instituto Cervantes.
This capital town hosted the first celebration of Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day in 2003. The celebration has now extended to Bulacan, Cavite, Iloilo, and in various places in Spain: Almonte in Huelva, Barcelona, Madrid, Palencia, Sevilla, and even in Guadalajara in the province of Castillo Lamancha.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, author of the law setting June 30 of every year as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day, said this year’s commemorative rites were moved to July 2 to pave the way for the inauguration of President Benigno Aquino III.