At the end of the 19th century, in the Spanish colony of the Philippines, a Spanish detachment was besieged in the town of Baler on the island of Luzon by Filipino revolutionary insurgents for 337 days. In December 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris between Spain and United States, the war between the two countries was formally ended and Spain ceded sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States. Because of this, the besieged in Baler are known as "the last of the Philippines," "los ultimos de Filipinas."