House OKs resolution urging US to return Balangiga bells

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has approved a resolution urging the United States government to immediately return to the Philippines three church bells and other artifacts taken from the Samar town of Balangiga as war booty during the Philippine-American War more than a century ago.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño commended the passage of Resolution 112, which he said aims “to correct a continuing wrong” by the US in keeping possession of the Balangiga bells and other artifacts forcibly taken by US military forces 109 years ago. 

“The Filipino people regard the bells not as tools or spoils of war that should be kept as war trophy but as historic and religious treasures made for the people of Samar that have become a significant part of Philippine heritage – not unlike how Americans regard their own Liberty Bell enshrined in Philadelphia,” the resolution read. 

“Taken during the brutal American ‘pacification campaign’ led by Gen. ‘Hell-Roaring Jake’ Smith – who was court-martialed for murder and forced to retire from the service – were four artifacts taken from Balangiga as war trophies,” Casiño said. 

Taken were two church bells with Franciscan Order emblems dated 1863 and 1889, and an English-made Falcon cannon dated 1557. All three artifacts are on display at the Trophy Park of the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

A smaller church bell with the Franciscan Order emblem dated 1896, is with the 9th US Infantry Regiment in Camp Red Cloud, Korea. 

“In fact, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne in Wyoming and the National Bishops Conference of America have expressed support for the return of the bells as a gesture of goodwill and faith since ‘in war, there are no war trophies except freedom,’” Casiño said. 

The resolution added that various resolutions have been introduced in US state legislatures and the US Congress supporting the return of the bells, including US House Resolution 16, introduced on Jan. 27, 2003 in the state of Maryland.

“This US resolution recognizes that the surprise attack on the US garrison at Balangiga must rightfully be viewed in the context of the Filipino struggle for independence from Spain and the United States, and it should be acknowledged that Americans may have employed no less ‘surprising’ and ‘unprovoked’ means to fight for their own independence from England during the Revolutionary War,” Casiño said.

“We hope that the Barack Obama administration will address this important resolution by the 15th Congress and heed calls to return the bells of Balangiga,” he said.