Baclaran is a
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...
located in the northern area of the city of
Parañaque, Metro Manila,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It is also known to be located at the borders of the cities of Parañaque and
Pasay
Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people.
Due to its location j ...
.
Because of its proximity to the seashore, the place was named after a piece of fishing equipment called "". Baklad is a rattan fence placed around the fish to protect them until they are ready to be sold in the market. Many of these were assembled at the seashore, so people started calling the place "Bakladan". The Filipino grammatical feature of changing d's to r's when a suffix is added changed this to "Baclaran".
History
Baclaran was established in 1971 in the municipality, now city, of Parañaque. In 1973, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła (later
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
) visited the Baclaran Redemptorist Church or Baclaran Church, during his first visit to the Philippines. Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków, celebrated
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
in the shrine during a brief, unofficial stopover in Manila. In 1981, Wojtyła, as Pope John Paul II, returned to the shrine as part of his apostolic visit to the Philippines.
The area is well known for the
National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, also known as the Redemptorist Church or Baclaran Church, dedicated to
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour) is a Roman Catholic Titles of Mary, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine art, Byzantine icon with an alleged Marian apparition. Th ...
. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to the shrine of
Our Mother of Perpetual Help. There was also once Muslim mosque, the
Baclaran Mosque, now demolished by the City of Pasay. Baclaran is known for its children and youth membership in the local
rondalla
The rondalla is an ensemble of stringed instruments played with the plectrum or pick and generally known as plectrum instruments. It originated in Medieval Spain, especially in the ancient Crown of Aragon: Catalonia, Aragon, Murcia, and V ...
, which won at
NAMCYA The National Music Competitions for Young Artists Foundation or NAMCYA was founded in the Philippines in 1973. It was created by virtue of President Ferdinand Marcos' Presidential Proclamation No. 1173, which declares the period between November 26 ...
in 1996, and the Drum and Lyre Band, as well as its street welding. There are a number of
flea markets () occupying the westbound lane of Taft Avenue.
Transportation
Located near the intersection of
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citie ...
and
Roxas Boulevard
Roxas Boulevard is a popular waterfront promenade in Metro Manila in the Philippines. The boulevard, which runs along the shores of Manila Bay, is well known for its sunsets and stretch of coconut trees. The divided roadway has become a tradema ...
, Baclaran is a major transportation hub and transfer point. The
Baclaran LRT Station
Baclaran station is an elevated Manila Light Rail Transit (LRT) station situated on Line 1. Located on the last stretches of Taft Avenue in Pasay right at the border with Baclaran, Parañaque, it is the current southern terminus of the line. Th ...
is the southern terminal station of the
Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1
The Light Rail Transit Line 1, commonly referred to as LRT Line 1 or LRT-1, is a light rapid transit system line in Metro Manila, Philippines, operated by Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) and owned by the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRT ...
. Many bus and jeepney routes pass through Baclaran or have it as their end destination, especially transportation to and from the province of
Cavite
Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...
to the south. Baclaran also has the closest street near the four airport terminals in Metro Manila, more known as the Airport Road. Wednesdays are generally busier as
novena
A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pe ...
devotees come to pray at the Baclaran Church.
Cycle rickshaws can also be used to navigate the interior streets.
References
{{MetroManila-geo-stub