Bells of Balangiga should be returned

DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez, Senator Aquilino Pimentel and Mayor Jejomar Binay have been asking the administration to resume formal negotiations with the United States for the return of the two church bells of Balangiga, Samar, that were taken by the American forces during the Filipino-American war. We really cannot see why the Americans would want to retain possession of those bells.

Joseph L. Schott, an American who has also authored a book about the Congressional Medal of Honor has written a book about the Balangiga battle. It is called The Ordeal of Samar. It is objectively written and makes clear that what started in Balangiga and developed into the ordeal of Samar was the most reg-rettable event in the Fil-American war. Only four of the nine American soldiers survived the battle. On the part of the Balangiga forces, 28 men died and 22 were wounded.

After the American defeat, Brig. Gen. Jacob H. Smith issued the following orders to Major Littleton Waller: I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better you will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States.

"I would like to know the limit of age to respect, sir," Waller replied.

"Ten years," said the General.

"Persons of ten years and older are those designated as being capable of bearing arms? asked Waller in disbelief.

"Yes" Gen. Smith asserted.

That is how Samar became a howling wilderness.

All this is past. But the bells of Balangiga should be restored to the town church where they belong. Church bells are sacramentals. In the Philippines, they are the foremost symbols of all communities. The Spanish effort to organize our people into communities began by bringing them under the church bells. Church bells toll the baptism, wedding and death of every individual in that community.

We would like to suggest that the Balangiga bells that serve as a marker at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming be replaced by a fitting monument made by a Filipino sculptor. The marker says: "These bells came from a church in Balangiga, Samar, located in the Philippine Islands. The ringing of these bells signaled the attack by bolo tribesmen on Sunday morning, the 28th of September, 1901, in which Company of the Ninth U.S. Infantry was massacred." The proposed monument would emphasize the friendship and brotherhood that followed.

Incidentally, there is now another book written by an American named Hempton Sides called Ghost Soldiers. It is about the Bataan March and how the resistance against the Japanese continued. The book is being turned into a movie.

In the meantime, we hope the Americans will return the Balangiga bells as part of the Balikatan exercises.