MANILA, Philippines — United States Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday (Manila time) led a military ceremony that would begin the repatriation of the Balangiga bells to the Philippines.
The bells were taken by American soldiers from a church in Balangiga, Eastern Samar as war booty in 1901.
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In a speech during the ceremony at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Mattis said the return of the church bells would help strengthen the alliance between the Philippines and the US.
"In returning the bells of Balangiga to our ally and our friend the Philippines, we pick up our generation’s responsibility to deepen the respect between our people," Mattis said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray