25 July, 2017
During his State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Duterte called for the return of the three Balangiga bells.
In 2016, the US Military Academy at West Point sent back a bell also taken in 1901 to the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Bauang, La Union, according to a report on Stars and Stripes, a newspaper for the US military community. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. "They are part of our national heritage".
Dr. Rolando O. Borrinaga, secretary of the National Committee on Historical Research of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, said it is both negative and positive on President Duterte's statement on the return of the two Balangiga bells.
Evardone of the Lone District of Eastern Samar said it is time the bells are returned to the people of Eastern Samar to erase the last vestiges of the Philippine-American War and "strengthen further the relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America".
"We will continue to work with our Filipino partners to find a resolution", it added.
The bells were part of the American soldiers' "prize" after retaliating against the Filipinos who attacked a United States garrison posted in the town of Balangiga in 1901. In a reprisal, the USA army killed every male over the age of 10 years old and took the bells.
Stars and Stripes, a newspaper for the US military community, reported that bells were routinely taken as souvenirs but were sometimes removed so they were not melted down to make weapons.
The bells remain at an American Air Force base in Wyoming. The president also again mentioned Obama, whom he has been criticizing since past year, during his SONA on Monday.
