Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day ('Día de la Amistad entre España y Filipinas' or 'Día de la Amistad Hispano-Filipina') celebrates the strong links between the Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Spain every June 30. It commemorates the day when General Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First Philippine Republic, issued a decree requiring the last Spanish soldiers who had been besieged for almost a year inside Baler's church be treated not as enemies and prisoners of war, but as friends. It also ordered that they receive the necessary permission for their return to Spain.
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Senator Edgardo Angara, the Friendship Day's main sponsor, described this occasion as, "a glorious day for both countries because the Siege of Baler brought heroes and victory for both parties." Today, it symbolizes the great friendship between both countries.
Background
The Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day Bill was passed on July 22, 2002, and Republic Act No. 9187 was approved on February 5, 2003 --both as means to strengthen the relationship between two nations that share history, values and traditions.
Republic Act No. 9187 states:
June 30 is a day when President Emilio Aguinaldo commended the besieged Spanish soldiers in the Church of Baler for their loyalty and gallantry. To mark this momentous occasion, there is a need to declare said day a national holiday to remember the act of benevolence which has paved the way in bridging better relations between Philippines and Spain.
The 30th of June of each year is hereby declared as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day to commemorate the cultural and historical ties, friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and Spain. It is hereby declared as a national special working holiday and a special non-working holiday in Aurora Province.
Siege of Baler
Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day relates to Siege of Baler. A group of Spanish soldiers garrisoned inside the town church in Baler, Aurora and defended the Spanish flag from July 1, 1898 to June 2, 1899 -- without knowing that Spain had already give its principal colony in Asia independence on December 10, 1898 by signing of the Treaty of Paris.
Heroism and stubbornness let the 33 soldiers, commanded by Captain Enrique de las Morenas y Fossí and Lieutenant Saturnino Martín y Cerezo, not only to survive, but to earn the respect of the revolutionary army of the Malolos Republic, whose safe return to Spain was ordered by General Emilio Aguinaldo. This group of soldiers came to be known as Los últimos de Filipinas (The last ones of the Philippines).
The Siege of Baler was led by Revolutionary Colonel Simon Ocampo Tecson of San Miguel, Bulacan, the field commanding officer - List of Filipino Generals in the Philippine Revolution of 1896 and the Filipino-American War of 1899.
Celebration in the Philippines
Bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of the Philippines had been steadily improving since the formal establishment of Sovereign Tagalog Nation in 1896, Republic of Biak-na-Bato in 1897, Cantonal Republic of Negros in 1898 and Malolos Republic and Republic of Zamboanga in 1899. The Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Spain have renewed their 1947 Treaty of Friendship, expanding it to a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in the year 2000. On June 30, 2003, the first celebration of Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day took place in the Philippine town of Baler, Aurora Province, with Senator Edgardo Angara as host. Guests for this first event were, among others, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (one of the directors of Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language) and the head of Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (Spanish International Cooperation Agency), Dr. Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga Salamanca, the special representative for this occasion, who read an official message from H.M. the King of Spain. It is also celebrated yearly in the town of San Miguel, Bulacan in the house of Simon Tecson - Tecson House. It is the same house where the first Philippine Constitution was ratified with Emilio Aguinaldo.
Since 2003, this celebration has acquired more and more relevance and has kept growing in terms of the amount of activities and projects, which have been organised in different locations:
Celebration in Spain
Since 2006, Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day has been simultaneously celebrated and organised in different locations of Spain such as Madrid, Barcelona, Palencia and Almonte in Huelva. In Madrid, several institutions such as the Philippine Embassy and the Asociación Cultural Galeón de Manila celebrate this Friendship Day since 2009.
Today, many titles of nobility were named after Philippine areas, such as the Vizcondado de Mindanao or Viscountship of Mindanao AND Condado de Jolo or County of Jolo--- both titles held by the Malcampo family and headed by Cristina Osorio Malcampo, the 8th Duchess of San Lorenzo de Valhermoso; Condado de la Conquista de Islas Batanes or the County of the Conquest of the Batanes Islands held by Jose Basco y Vargas, a governor general of the Philippines; Condado de Albay or the County of Albay held by Pedro de Govantes, a politician just like his uncle, the Prime Minister of Spain Marcelo Azcarraga y Palmero of Cuba whose very own mother Maria Versosa Palmero Lizarrabal was related to the Count of Lizarraga; and the Mayorazgo de Mariquina or the Mayoralty of Marikina held by the Chinese-Filipino Tuason family, now headed by Severo Tuason.
Also, many Filipino held Spanish titles in their own right, such as Isabela de Ynchausti, Marquise of Viademonte and matriarch of the once powerful and entrepreneural Ychausti clan; Margarita Zobel de Ayala, Countess of Peracamps (her husband Antonio Melian descended from General Van Halen of Barcelona), the Pardo de Tavera family who perhaps was the most powerful Filipino-Spanish family as their ancestor Juan Pardo de Tavera was Inquisitor General of Spain and the right hand of his Majesty King Philip II of Spain himself. They were descended from Guiomar Pardo de Tavera, the Marquise of Magahon and Countess of El Alcazar de Toledo, titles now held by the Dukes of Medinaceli); Isabel Preysler the mother of Enrique Iglesias and who was once Marquise of Grinyon, and now future Marquise of vargas Llosa; Victoria Gonzalez Quirino, related to former Philippine President Elpidio Quirino and married to Manuel Alvarez de Toledo, 5th Duke of Zaragoza; and, Sylvia Landahl y Hagedorn who was married to Alvaro Moreno, the 8th Duke of Los Andes and 13th Marquis of La Eliseda.
The current Queen of Spain Letizia's maternal grandfather Enrique Rodriguez, was born in the Philippines, and while having pure Spanish blood, is considered Filipino for having been born in Manila during the times when Filipinos were also defined as Spaniards being born on Philippine soil.