US to hold ceremony to return Balangiga bells to Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — The Balangiga bells taken by American soldiers as war booty more than a century ago would soon return home to the Philippines.
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez will meet US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis this week in Wyoming, where two of the church bells are located, according to a report from GMA News.
Romualdez said he would be in Wyoming with Mattis on November 15 (Manila time) and they would release an official statement after a military ceremony for the repatriation of the Balangiga bells.
The ceremony will be held at the Francis E. Waren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, according to Rolando Borrinaga of the Committee on Historical Research of National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Borrinaga told ABS-CBN News that the ceremony would mark the journey of the two Wyoming bells back to Balangiga, Eastern Samar church where they were taken.
"The latest successful campaign for the return of the Bells of Balangiga was largely a veterans-to-veterans effort. So many in the U.S. veterans community have let their voices be known and lent their support — including National Resolutions of support from both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion," Borrinaga told ABS-CBN News.
The third Balangiga bell at the US Army museum in South Korea would also be repatriated, according to Borrinaga.
Mattis earlier notified the US Congress of their intention to return the church bells that US soldiers removed from the church of Balangiga way back in 1901.
The concurrence of US legislators to return the bells to the Philippines is necessary as mandated by the US National Defense Authorization Act for 2018.
The ringing of the bells used to signal the surprise attack by Filipino guerrillas against US troops belonging to the 9th US Infantry Regiment, which killed 48 American soldiers, including their commander.
In response, the US troops set the town on fire and killed Filipinos 10 years old and above, as ordered by Gen. Jacob Smith. The attack left more than 2,500 Filipinos dead. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
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