Posted by Christine-Ann Tecson (144.139.145.197) on May 04, 2004 at 07:58:14:
In Reply to: Surnames for Tecson posted by Anna Tecson on February 17, 1998 at 09:30:47:
Colonel Pablo Tecson my great great grandfather came from San Miguel, Bulacan.
Monday, June 30, 2003
RP, Spain toast �everlasting friendship�
By Dino Balabo, Correspondent
MALOLOS CITY�A friendship that sprang from valor and honor in war was toasted by the Philippines and Spain on Saturday.
Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Ignacio Sagaz declared the first official Filipino-Hispano day here with a ceremonial toast of �everlasting friendship� between the two countries.
With a handful of local officials and historians present in a night of Spanish cuisine, songs and dances, Sagaz thanked the Philippines for officially recognizing the strong bond with his country through an enactment of the friendship day more than 100 years after Spain relinquished three centuries of rule in the country.
Sagaz said the event is equally important to the province of Bulacan, because the main contingent of the Filipino troops responsible for the surrender of the last Spanish forces in Baler, Aurora, on June 30, 1899, came from Bulacan.
Isagani Giron, president of the Samahang Pangkasaysayan ng Bulacan (Sampaka), told The Manila Times that a year before, the same Filipino soldiers who led the siege in Baler also caused the surrender of Spanish forces led by Lt. Telesforo Carrasco in San Miguel, Bulacan.
Spanish troops in Baler led by Lt. Saturnino Martin Cerezo held off the combined Philippine-Spanish troops from Bulacan long after the war between the two countries was over and the Filipinos were already waging war against the United States.
�It took them almost a year before they convinced Cerezo�s troops to surrender,� Giron said, adding that it was only when Filipino troops showed the Spaniards a newspaper from Spain and Cerezo read something about his friend that he ordered his men to lay down their arms.
Only 37 Spanish soldiers were left when Cerezo finally surrendered, he said. When the soldiers returned to Spain, they were accorded with honors for their gallantry and valor.
However, it was the patience and tenacity of the Bulakenyo soldiers, led by Col. Simon Tecson, the brother of Col. Pablo Tecson, that made the difference, Giron said. �Had Col. Simon Tecson went along with military adventurism, the siege would not last that long,� he said.
Bulacan Vice Governor Rely Plamenco recounted the sociocultural and religious contributions of Spain to the Philippines.
He said that owing to the presidential proclamation, June 30 becomes a national working holiday and a nonworking holiday in Baler.