Siege of Baler

[faabala]

I found this in my internet surfing.

batangbaler.net/benebens_philspanish_2a.html

[legionnaire]

Looks like a "Siege of Baler the Musical" ;D If only Katipunero uniforms were already available. Thanks for showing.

Philip

[VeeVee]

That's the local version of Les Miserable

[RayAdillO]

Geez!.......It looks like another one of those low budget plays staged by some left wing commie drama club that CANNOT care about military historical details and must always stress that the Philippine revolution is nothing more than a feeble attempt by "progressive" elements within the Filipino elite to foster a populist uprising.

[faabala]

You are right. I did find a good account of the amazing last stand of the Spanish at Baler.

www.spanamwar.com/Baler.html

[VeeVee]

It's what this movie is about:

[bobcouttie]

There's no doubt that Moreno and Cerezo were rmarkably capable commanders. What isn't mentioned in the SpanAm war account is that Aguinaldo himself ordered the Philippine forces to provide full militatry honours to the surrenderees when they came out of the church.

[beancent]

The Siege of Baler.... A Story of Miscommunication in the Absence of the Radio and Its Stubborn Spanish Defenders...
If there will be a re-make of a movie about the siege this should be the title.

[Jogador96]

Sept 30, 2006 8:03:08 GMT -5 RayAdillO said:

Geez!.......It looks like another one of those low budget plays staged by some left wing commie drama club that CANNOT care about military historical details and must always stress that the Philippine revolution is nothing more than a feeble attempt by "progressive" elements within the Filipino elite to foster a populist uprising.

Yes, it looks low budget, but it's not staged by "some left wing commie drama club". I see some Filipino actors in the photos, John Arcilla and perhaps Isay Alvarez.

And oh, BTW, I am left of center in my politics, a liberal progressive with socialist tendencies. But I the hell do surely care for tiny military history, especially of my country, the Philippines, way before it became fashionable to do so. In fact, I began when I was about 9 years old after digging up an old Zaide Philippine history book from the 1960s. I don't know why people's leftist politics should disqualify them from caring for Philippine military history. Most left-leaning and straight out leftist Filipinos are actually the most patriotic people you can find.

[RayAdillO]

All I'm saying is that most "production work" set up by leftists are not keen on historical accuracy, particularly on military uniforms and equipment. I'm not saying they are ignorant of such things, it's simply not high among their set of production values. They do have their own reasons why that is so.

[79thfoot]

Well... somewhat related two bits.

I was involved in a project on the 'Balangiga Massacre' back when I was in UP Diliman and I threw myself into it with some enthusiasm because it was rare to hear that they were doing something historical. The problem was, when I read the script synopsis it was (yup) that tired old leftist communist drivel, connecting the American reaction to the Philippine government's repressiveness in the present day and stuff like that. To make a long story short, I politely excused myself from the project.

Yes the government has a lot of problems and there's a lot of wrong being done in the name of law and government but that doesn't mean that Communism is a viable alternative. I guess I feel strongly about it because my dad's an ex-Marxist activist who was saved (ironically) from death by being imprisoned in Dumaguete during Martial Law. Most of his friends in the movement that went to the hills ended up getting a bullet from their very own 'comrades' when 'government infiltration' and 'double agents' were feared to have gotten into their communist cells.

Anyways, I have yet to see a historical production in the Philippines that doesn't dispense with the masa/socialist agenda.

Rant over,
Tom