Palace welcomes US plan to return Balangiga bells
welcomed the announcement of the United States’ Department of Defense’s plan to return the historic Balangiga Bells to the country.
Presidential Spokesman
Harry Roque made the statement after the American Embassy in Manila said that US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis notified the US Congress that his department “intends to return” the relics to the Philippines.
“We welcome this development as we look forward to continue working with the United States Government in paving the way for the return of the bells to the Philippines,” Roque said in a statement.
Mattis has reportedly signed documents favoring the return of the Balangiga bell to the Philippines. However, no specific date was mentioned as to when these would be returned.
“We’ve received assurances that the Bells will be returned to the Catholic Church and treated with the respect and honor they deserve,” the US Embassy said in a statement.
President Duterte first made an appeal to the US to return the Balangiga Bells during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year.
“Those bells are reminders of the gallantry and heroism of our forebears who resisted the American colonizers and sacrificed their lives in the process,” Duterte had said.
“Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage. Isauli naman ninyo. Masakit ‘yun sa amin (Please return it. It is painful for us),” he added.
Almost two months later, US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim disclosed that there is an ongoing effort to facilitate the return of the artifacts.
“I believe it’s the right thing to do and I really do hope that we will be able to return the bells soon,” Kim had said.
“Yes, that is our goal [to return the bells]. But whether all three return at once or they are phased, I think it’s very difficult to predict at the moment,” he added.
On September 28, 1901, Filipino freedom fighters from Balangiga, Eastern Samar ambushed Company C of the 9th US Infantry Regiment who were having breakfast, killing an estimated 48 and wounding 22 of the 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt. Duterte welcomed the developments about the possible return of the bells to its homeland. He said that he will not allow such thing to happen again.
The President said that the encounter almost 117 years ago is now water under the bridge.
“We are not angry at you. We are just saying that those bells would touch in the core of our existence as a Filipino,” Duterte said.
In December last year, US President Donald Trump signed the US National Defense Authorization Act of 2018, which gave Mattis the authority to decide on the fate of the bells.
Solons Lawmakers are counting on the US government to return the Balangiga bells before the 127 anniversary of the Balangiga Encounter Day on September 28.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza expressed hope that Washington would finally return the bells that were taken as “trophies of war” by the American military troops in 1901.
The two lawmakers were principal authors of House Resolution 1337 which seeks Washington’s return of the Balangiga bells. The resolution was unanimously approved by the Lower Chamber on Sept. 26, 2017.
“We welcome the endorsement of the US Secretary of Defense for the return of the Balangiga Bells. They rightfully belong to us as a symbol of freedom and justice,” Evardone, chairman of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries said.
A Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News post said, the US Embassy in Manila has confirmed that Mattis signed the documents on August 10 as the faithful of Balangiga in Eastern Samar celebrated the feast of their patron, San Lorenzo de Martir. Deputy Press Attache Trude Raizen of the US Embassy in Manila relayed the information to Malacañang last Saturday.
One of the bells is in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at Camp Red Cloud based in South Korea, while the two others are at a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F. E. Warren air base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Many attempts and efforts have been initiated to bring the bells back to the Philippines starting in 1957 when Jesuit historian-priest Fr. Horacio de la Costa requested the 13th Air Force in San Francisco, California to return the bells.