BALER, AURORA

Introduction:

Philippine history says that the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines were the
Negritos, the Indonesians and the Malays. They came to the Philippines from mainland
Asia by way of the land-bridges that connected with Philippines with Asia during the ice
age or by boat as in the case of the Indonesians and the Malays.

The same was true with the Negritos or the Aetas, locally known as Dumagats
who found their settlements along the coastlines of Baler and Casiguran specifically in
Umiray, Dibut, Dibalo, Sabang, Calabgan, Ditinagyan and Diniog. The Elongot or
Ilongot came much later than the Aetas or Dumagats. They were part of the Indonesians
wave of early settlers who came to the Philippines. Their arrival was resented by the
Aetas who were in residence on the coastlines of Baler and Casiguran. The Dumagats
were hostileto the new comers ending in tribal wars. Since the Aetas were already settled
by the sea, the Elongots or Ilongots went in land and found settlements at the mouth of
the rivers. They became the mountain tribe. They opened settlements at the mouth of
Casecnan River, Kadayakan, Ditale, Puangi, Diarabasin and Dianed. These settlements
were already thriving communities when the early Franciscan missionaries headed by
Fray Esteban Ortiz, OFM reached the eastern coastal region of the Sierra Madre in 1579.
But it was Fray Blas Palomino, OFM and six other Franciscans who actually explored the
uncharted jungles of the Sierra Madre and unknowingly emerged into a village in 1609
which they later called Baler after penetrating through the rugged terrain of the eastern
part of the Caraballo mountain.

While they found the place remote and deeply forested, it enjoyed a healthy
climate and pleasantly airy. They noted the land to be fertile and natural resources
abundant. Very noteworthy was the abundance of honeybees in the area although the
inhabitants were hostile and fierce. They lived in lean-tos and stilt-houses and subsisted
on fishing, hunting and farming. They had crude farming methods but environment
friendly. They did not cut trees or clear forest to farm. Instead they stripped the trees of
their foliage to allow sunlight to nourish their plants and cultivate the soil between the
trees to root crops.

When Baler was discovered in 1609 by Fray Blas Palomino, OFM and his
companion following the mountain trail of the areas and the Elongots, it was located to
the right of the San Jose river (today’s Aguang) that wound its way from the Caraballo
(Sierra Madre) mountain to the north estuary (Kabilang Sabang) of Baler Bay. The town
was isolated with stern mountain walls enclosing it upon the landward side and to the east
the harborless Pacific ocean.
Legends on the Origin of Baler

There are several stories attributed to the origin of the name of the town of Baler.
One legend said that it originated from the name of a Lakan Balid who was the chieftain
of a prosperous and thriving village the Spanish soldiers came upon in their exploration
of the northeastern coast of Luzon. The Spanish soldiers found it hard to enunciate the
native d in Balid that they pronounce it instead as Lakan Baler.

Others said that the name came from a Padre Valeriano who was stationed in the
village. He was very kind and the people loved him so much. The villagers commonly
knew him as Padre Valer. When he died, the villagers name their village in his honor. It
was then known as the town of Baler. Another oral history said that it originated from a
native dialect known as Baled or the dialect of Aetas/ Dumagats. To them it meant “a
place to come home to” or as pinagbabalikan. Aetas are very nomadic tribes but no
matter where they roam as their nomadic instinct take them they always come to their
place along the coast which they called Baled.

Another legend told was that of a Spanish padre asking a native the name of the
place that which she mistook for her name and instead gave their own name Vale. But the
most popular and accepted origin was the one noted and defined in “Vocabulario de la
Lengua Tagala” authored by Fathers Juan dela Noceda and Pedro de San Lucar which
was published in 1754. It said that Baler originated from the word “Balod”, a large
mountain dove (Paloma Montes) that abounded in the place. Baler meant then as the
place where the pigeons came to roost or a place to come home to. It further said that no
matter where Balerians go in their search for glory and for fortune they would always
hope of going back home to Baler.