I remember how many times I have written about the famous bells of Balangiga in this corner but for the sake of brevity, this time I went to Google and read the story on Wikipedia and this is what they wrote about this historic event in Samar 117 years ago
“On September 28, 1901, Filipino militants from the village of Balangiga ambushed Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, while they were at breakfast, killing an estimated 48 and wounding 22 of the 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt. The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition. An estimated 20 to 25 of the villagers had died in the fighting, with a similar number of wounded.
“In reprisal, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a “howling wilderness” and that any Filipino male above ten years of age capable of bearing arms be shot. From the burned-out Catholic town church, the Americans looted three bells which they took back to the United States as war booty.
“The 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, however, maintains that the single bell in their possession was presented to the regiment by villagers when the unit left Balangiga on April 9, 1902. Smith and his primary subordinate, Major Littleton Waller of the United States Marine Corps were both court-martialled for illegal vengeance against the civilian population of Samar. Waller was acquitted of the charges. Smith was found guilty, admonished and retired from service, but charges were dropped shortly after. He was later hailed as a war hero.”
Why am I writing once again about the bells of Balangiga? That’s because a newspaper came up with a story that the bells were to be returned by December. Of the three bells, two are in the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming and one in a US military facility in South Korea. They were taken from Balangiga in 1901 as war trophies and many times efforts to bring them back were not given any thought to by the US, except when President Rodrigo Duterte demanded their return to maintain cordial relations between the USA and the Philippines. They have been subjects of a campaign for repatriation for more than 20 years.
We gathered that two Americans and a Philippine historian have campaigned for the repatriation of the bells; retired US Navy officer Dennis Wright, Rear Admiral Dan McKinnon, and Rolando Borrinaga. We learned that Mr. Borrinaga said US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had formally recommended to the US Congress on August 10 to return the bells.
When asked whether or not the return of the bells would push through, Borrinaga said it was “definite” the bells would be repatriated “on or before Christmas.” Borrinaga also said that the bells will be returned to the church of Balangiga and a “Philippine-American War Memorial Plaza” will be constructed in Balangiga.
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Talking about historic events there is one in recent history although it has been 30 years already. I’m talking about the infamous Bataan Nuclear Powered Plant (BNPP) where Tita Cory agreed with the opposition against the Marcos Dictatorship. It was a corrupt deal with the US Westinghouse and in the end it was proven to be totally false. So when I heard that Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the head of the Duterte administration’s economic team, is backing the Department of Energy’s proposal to possibly revive the mothballed BNPP they had to come up with logical reasons why they are bringing this back when it is already 30 years old.
Last week, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi was quoted as saying that the DOE was pushing for nuclear energy as among the sources to ensure energy security as the agency already finished a draft national policy on nuclear power last year. Mind you a twin nuclear power plant built also by Westinghouse is still running and giving cheap power to the people in Yongbyon, South Korea. So maybe a more thorough study on starting that power plant might be a good idea for the people of Luzon. What I would like to know is whether or not the BNPP is still feasible 30 years after.