Baclaran, formerly spelled as Bacladan is a barangay located in northern area of the City of Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is also known to be located at the borders of the cities of Parañaque and Pasay. Baclaran is at the north end of Parañaque because its nearness by the seashore, the place was named after a fishing gear used by fishermen called "baklad". Baklad is a rattan fence placed by fishermen around the fish siblings in order to protect them until they are readied for sale in the market. Many of these baklads were done right there at the seashore. So, people started calling the place “Bakladan”, corruption of the word made it into the word "baclaran", hence its name came to be.
History
Baclaran was established in 1971 in the then-Municipality, now City, of Parañaque. In 1973, the late former Cardinal Karol Joseph Wotyla then Pope John Pope II visited the Baclaran Redemptorist Church or Baclaran Church in Baclaran, Parañaque, as a part of his 1st visit to the Philippines since he was a cardinal then before he became a Pope 5 years later in 1978. Cardinal-Archbishop of Kraków Karol Wojtyła, said Mass 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. 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 to the Rondalla which won in NAMCYA way back 1996 and the Drum and Lyre Band, as well as its street welding. It is also has a number of flea markets, selling everything from clothes and electronics to home decorations and traditional medicine, which occupied the westbound lane of Taft Avenue.
Transportation
Located near the intersection of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Roxas Boulevard, Baclaran is a major transportation hub and transfer point. The Baclaran LRT Station is the southern terminal station of the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1. Many bus and jeepney routes pass through Baclaran or have it as their end destination, especially transportation to and from the province of Cavite 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 devotees come to pray at the Baclaran Church. Cycle rickshaws can also be used to navigate the interior streets.
