Will the Balangiga bells be returned this time?

I hope so but I doubt it. The US Ambassador may be optimistic but he is a small fry. It is not his word that will return the Balangiga bells to the Philippines nor the talks between the Philippine and US military. If it does it will be a miracle.

 As this column previously wrote when other top US government officials promised the bells will be returned – “it is not the bells, but the story of what happened in Balangiga that matters.” It will forever be the story of a war of imperialism when rebels with bolos and knives confronted soldiers with guns who disturbed their little town with their military superiority.

As the story goes, the bells were not war booty. The poorly armed rebels were ingenious by  using the bells to alert everyone for the time of attack. They were going along peacefully with carts loaded with bolos and knives. They were stopped by mighty American soldiers invading their towns who asked what they were carrying in the carts. They answered  “children’s corpses who died from cholera.” The brave American soldiers fled and left the carts alone. All Balangiga’s townfolks  were ready waiting for the signal of attack – the Balangiga Bells. That is how some 48 US soldiers were killed in a surprise attack while they were eating breakfast. Retaliation was swift and merciless to the natives who fought the American invaders. The assault drew a horrific counterattack from the American forces, who, on orders from Brig. Gen. Jacob Smith, killed all Balangiga residents aged over 10, turning the town into a “howling wilderness.”

After the massacre, the US troops seized the church bells as war booty.

President Duterte is the right president to demand for the return of the Balangiga bells. It is consistent with his foreign policy of independence and the desire to cultivate better relations with other former colonies in the region.

If there was any time that the Americans might have been sincere about returning the bells it would have been when Fidel V. Ramos was president. Discussions were held between him and the US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.  He only asked for one bell but soon felt he was being duped and subsequently asked for all the bells to be returned. The US has not returned the bells after more than a century since the war. Both Americans and Filipinos claim these bells are trophies of war.

“Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,” Duterte said in his second SONA.

The US embassy replied “We are aware that the Bells of Balangiga have deep significance for a number of people, both in the United States and in the Philippines. We will continue to work with our Filipino partners to find a resolution.”

The force entered Balangiga, firing away with Gatling machine guns and light cannon. Twenty natives captured at the edge of the town were brought to the plaza and executed. All houses were torched to the ground. The brigade was headed by Brig. Gen. Jacob Smith who commanded “I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better you will please me. In his handwriting were the words “The interior of Samar must be made a howling wilderness.”

The Americans argued that the bells were part of the spoils of war, paid for with the blood of American soldiers. We, too, paid a terrible price for a war not of our own making. Theirs was a war of conquest; ours was a fight for freedom. That is the story of the bells of Balangiga. Whether or not the US returns the bells has become moot. The event is about how the Philippines was colonized and how the poor townsfolk of Balangiga fought back. The bells are the symbol of one of the bloodiest events of America’s colonialism of the Philippines.

“Some of the American officers during that time did go beyond and had taken advantage of their position. They viewed Filipinos as a group of people to be subdued and they thought that all means were applicable. But in fairness to Major Waller who led the troops, he only acted in line of what he has ordered or in accordance with his duty. He was not involved in any torture. He lost a few of his men in the Samar campaign. I think the failure and controversy surrounding the Samar campaign, the execution of 11 natives by firing squad, the torture and other indiscretions by the American soldiers to eventually give the Philippines its independence.”

To me, Americans committed a propaganda blunder by seizing the bells and not returning them where they rightfully belong.

They could have done so earlier and be done with it but keeping it only reminds Filipinos of American infamy. It is the story that has become historical with a worldwide audience. The Americans might have taken over Balangiga and taken the bells but it is not something to be proud about nor is it an issue of contention. To Filipinos this is a story of courage and bravery against all odds.

Three US lawmakers are opposing the return of the Balangiga bells to the Philippines Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said she and US senators Mike Enzi and John Barraso have “voiced their strong disapproval” at the US Department of Defense’s plan to return the war booty currently at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.  “While we have respect for the relationship between the United States and the Government of the Philippines, we believe that moving the Bells establishes a dangerous precedent for future veterans’ memorials,” the three US lawmakers said.

Cheney added that US veterans also oppose the US Department of Defense’s move.

“The removal of the bells is opposed by the majority of Wyoming’s veterans, including the American Legion and Wyoming Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars,” she said.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis over the weekend signed documents favoring the return of the Balangiga bells, according to the US Embassy in Manila.  The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to confirm the news, according to Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Will the Balangiga bells issue lead to a conflict between the federal government and the state of Wyoming? How will it be resolved?