House to US: Return Balangiga bells

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives yesterday passed a resolution supporting President Duterte’s appeal for the US government to return the three Balangiga bells.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez and Reps. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar and Raul Daza of Northern Samar authored the resolution.

Before the measure’s passage, Evardone told his colleagues that the Americans seized the bells in Balangiga town in his province in 1901 as spoils of war.

He said two of the bells are on display in a trophy park at the Warren Air Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The other is kept at Camp Red Cloud, a US base in South Korea.

“Today, we ask for closure and healing. Give us the bells. Let those bells toll here to help heal the wounds of Balangiga,” Evardone said, reiterating Duterte’s appeal.

Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez has said US officials were willing to discuss with their Philippine counterparts the return of the Balangiga bells.

Meanwhile, a group of historians, legislators and youth leaders also urged the US government to not only return the bells and other war booties, but also to apologize for the atrocities committed by their soldiers during the Philippine-American War. 

The group launched the Lingganay ng Kalayaan (Bells of Freedom), a campaign for the return of the Balangiga bells and other spoils of war, in Quezon City yesterday.