Wyoming officials oppose returning Balaginga bells
It's a position Wyoming officials have repeated often over the years amid reports the Bells of Balangiga were to be repatriated. This time, however, the US Defense Department appears intent on following through.
Defense Secretary James Mattis wrote members of Congress over the weekend saying it was "in the national security interest of the United States" to return the bells.
Two of the Bells of Balangiga are at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The third is with the US Army in South Korea.
US Army soldiers took the bells following an attack on the island of Samar in which 48 American troops were killed in 1901.
"These bells are memorials to American war dead and should not be transferred to the Philippines," the all-Republican delegation made up of US Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, and US Rep. Liz Cheney, said in a joint statement Monday.
Most US veterans oppose returning the bells to the Philippines and the delegation opposes any effort by President Donald Trump's administration to return the bells without veterans' support, the statement said.
Groups including the American Legion and Republican Gov. Matt Mead opposed returning the bells when the idea came up in 2012, during President Barack Obama's administration.
This time, the Defense Department consulted at length with veterans' service organizations about possibly returning the bells, Mattis wrote.
Filipinos revere the bells as symbols of national pride and President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly called for their return. Fewer Filipino combatants died than the Americans in the Balangiga attack but perhaps five times more than the 4,200 Americans were killed over the course of the 1899-1902 Philippine-American War. The war also killed 100,000 or more civilians, according to some estimates.
US Air Force officials didn't respond to a message seeking comment Monday.
The two bells in Wyoming followed a US Army infantry regiment based on Samar during the US occupation. The 11th Infantry arrived in 1904 at Fort D.A. Russell, which in 1930 became Fort Francis E. Warren and in 1949 F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
The third bell followed the 9th Infantry to Camp Red Cloud in South Korea. P HILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde ordered on Monday, August 13, the dismissal from service of retired and incumbent police generals and personnel who were involved in the case of 1,004 missing AK-47s.
The AK-47s, which are assault rifles considered the most powerful in the world, allegedly ended up in the hands of New People's Army (NPA) rebels.
Among the active police officials and personnel who were ordered dismissed were:
* Chief Superintendent Regino Catiis of the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development
* Superintendent Nelson Bautista of Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit
* Superintendent Ricky Sumalde of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)
* Chief Inspector Ricardo Zapata Jr. of PNP-Central Luzon
* Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto
* Senior Police Officer 1 Randy Madiam De Sesto * Non-uniformed personnel Sol Bargan
Acierto, De Sesto and Bargan were all assigned in the Civil Security Group.
The above-mentioned officials and personnel were all formerly assigned at the PNP-Firearms and Explosives Office.
They were also penalized of forfeiture of retirement benefits, cancellation of eligibility, and disqualification from public office or taking civil service examinations.
On the other hand, the retired police officials who were ordered dismissed were PNP Police Regional Office-Central Luzon Chief and former FEO head Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta and Chief Superintendent Allan Acong Parreno who retired on June 2017 and December 2015, respectively.
They were both penalized to pay a fine amounting to their one year salary on top of other accessory penalty, including the forfeiture of retirement benefits, cancellation of eligibility, and disqualification from public office.
Non-uniformed personnel Nora Belarmino Pirote, who retired on December 2014, was also meted with the same penalty.
The directive stemmed from the dismissal order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman against the said police personnel over charges of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service in relation to the issuance of license to a total of 1,004 AK-47, which went missing but was later on found in the possession of the NPA rebels after clashes with government troops.
Senior Police Officer 1 Eric Tan, who was also included in the dismissal order, was also meted the same penalty as those of Petrasanta and Perreno.
In 2013, then President Benigno Aquino III ordered the PNP to conduct an investigation after a report reached his office that the owners of some 1,004 licensed AK-47 assault rifles are unidentifiable.
Then CIDG chief Director Benjamin Magalong said Isidro Lozada of the Caraga Security Agency admitted facilitating the sale of the AK-47 to the NPA mostly in the Caraga region and Western Mindanao through the Twin Pines, which is a registered guns and gun parts importer.
Magalong said the named former officials of the FEO failed to “exercise due diligence in examining the documents” pertaining to the transactions.
The Ombudsman and the Department of Justice were also tapped to investigate on the matter.
HEYENNE, Wyo. -- The United States should not return church bells seized as war trophies from the Philippines over a century ago, Wyoming's congressional delegation said Monday.