We read with pleasure an article by Elisa Gómez Pedraja, in the journal of the Cantabrian Association of Genealogy, in which the author inquires about the whereabouts of the church bell in Baler, where the Detachment of Cazadores (Hunters) No. 2 survived the historic siege between June 30, 1998 and July 2, 1899.

Although in the Museum of Baler the bell that appears in the photograph is exhibited today, Elisa Gómez Pedraja assures in this article that it is not the original bell, since it was donated in 1904 by Fray Juan López, one of the two Franciscans who survived the siege, to Don Antonio Victoriano Correa, Cantabrian of Comillas and Vice-President, at that time, of the General Company of Tobacco of the Philippines. She includes in her article an unpublished letter from Fray López certifying that gift.

Unfortunately, the author has consulted different files, such as those of the Transatlantic Company in the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, ​​without finding any clue so far as to the whereabouts of the authentic Baler bell. We join her search and sincerely congratulate the author for bringing to light this curious and unknown fact.

Aurelio Calvo, President of the Association Ultimos de Filipinas – Heroes of Baler, and Jesús Valbuena, great-grandson of Corporal García Quijano, (the first Spanish soldier wounded in the siege), in the bell tower of the church of Baler (2017).