Baler is a 2008 romantic war film and the official entry of VIVA Films in the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival, starring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales. Its first screening was on December 25, 2008, simultaneously with the rest of the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival film entries.

Premise

As the Philippine Revolution comes to an end, a heavily outnumbered Spanish expeditionary force under Captain Enrique de las Morenas Fossi entrench themselves in the local church of Baler, Aurora from wave after wave of Katipunan attacks. Amidst this bloody siege comes a tragic love story between a mestizo named Celso Resurreción, who fights for the Spanish forces, and Feliza Reyes, the daughter of a Katipunero.

Release

Baler has been available on original CD and DVD since March 17, 2009. Baler had a special screening at the 2nd San Joaquin International Film Festival, on May 19, 2009, in Stockton, California.

Cast

Awards

2008 Metro Manila Film Festival 2009 Gawad Genio Awards 2009 FAMAS Awards 2009 FAP Awards

Controversy

On February 25, 2013, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the indictment of former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chairman Efraim Genuino, his son Erwin, and six other officials of the state-run gaming firm for malversation and graft charges in connection to a multimillion-peso deal for Baler.