With elections over, now it is projects that count

Sad to say, the senatorial candidate that we most highly endorsed did not make it to the Magic Twelve. We are, of course, referring to Heherson T. Alvarez who lost because he ran as an independent. Immediately after the election, Alvarez was already busy with one of his projects for the country – the return of the Balangiga Bells to the church in Samar where they rightfully belong. Below is a copy addressed to Ambassador Preciosa Soliven of the UNESCO:

Dear Mr. Soliven:

As we celebrate World Heritage Month this May, we would like to seek the UNESCO Commission’s support through a resolution, affirming my request to Director General Matsuura to consider embracing the cause of returning the Balangiga Bells to the Philippines.

As then chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment on July 20, 1993, I have gone all the way to Fort Cheyenne in Wyoming to personally visit the bells and seek the possible arrangements for their return. The task has brought me all the way to the State Department in Washington and I also pressed through a special appeal to the Judge Advocate General’s office for their return.

Then President Fidel V. Ramos has also made endorsements for the return of the bells directly to his US counterpart, President Bill Clinton, and I believe President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has likewise pursued the case. Unfortunately, a bilateral agreement has not yet been forged and there still seems to be a strong resistance from the US Army.

I also took exception to the inscription that perpetuates a colonial historic distortion of American invasion of the Philippines. In order to break this gridlock, the route via UNESCO would be the most effective avenue for seeking the return of the bells as our cultural-historic treasures. If you will recall, UNESCO has been very active and successful in protecting the ransacking of cultural treasures and the archeological wealth of Iraq during the war.

I would appreciate a copy of a resolution of support from our Philippine Commission for this initiative that I have undertaken directly with the Director General’s office in Paris.

In 1988, Congress designated September 28 as the Balangiga Encounter Day. The following year, the Balangiga Historical Society requested then Senator Heherson T. Alvarez to intercede in their behalf for the United States to return the church bells of Balangiga which initiated what has been documented in a book entitled The Ordeal of Samar. Alvarez made a trip to Fort Cheyenne, Wyoming to recover said bells. He has appealed to US President Bill Clinton, Sen. Edward Kennedy and US Ambassador Stephen Solarz. So far he has had little success.

It was the Balangiga Church bells that signaled the attack of Filipino freedom fighters against Company C of the 9th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. The American troops were veterans of the Boxer rebellion in China and the war against Cuba. The Filipinos were armed only with bolos. The Balangiga Historical Society says: "The return of the bells would mean a great deal to the town of Balangiga as they represent the rich heritage of the town, the emblem and the aspirations of their forefathers for freedom and liberty." The Balangiga bells are the foremost symbol of Balangiga for all Philippine towns began when their people were brought under the bells.

Their return would remind one and all that the Americans and the Filipinos not only ended as friendly but as allies in Bataan. We really wish that the military authorities would see the wisdom of returning the Balangiga bells to their origin – the Balangiga church bell tower.