House ‘reso’ presses US to return Balangiga bells

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution calling on the United States to return three church bells and a cannon taken by its forces as war booty from Balangiga, Samar, during the Philippine-American War 109 years ago.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño, author of House Resolution 112, said the measure was approved in plenary with no opposition and was signed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. after Congress adjourned two weeks ago.

Casiño said the resolution aims to correct a “continuing wrong” by the US in holding on to the Balangiga Bells and other artifacts.

War trophies

“The Filipino people regard the said bells not as tools or spoils of war that should be kept as war trophy but as historic and religious treasures made for the people of Samar that have become a significant part of Philippine heritage—not unlike how Americans regard their own Liberty Bell enshrined in Philadelphia,” Bayan Muna said.

Seized during the American pacification campaign were two church bells with Franciscan Order emblems dated 1863 and 1889 and an English-made Falcon cannon dated 1557, all three of which are on display at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and a smaller church bell with the Franciscan Order emblem dated 1896 which is with the 9th US Infantry Regiment at Camp Red Cloud, Korea.

The attacks on Balangiga were led by Gen. Jake Smith who was later court-martialed for murder and forced to retire.

“In fact, the Roman Catholic diocese of Cheyenne in Wyoming and the National Bishops Conference of America have expressed support for the return of the bells as a gesture of goodwill and faith since ‘in war, there are no war trophies except freedom,’” Casiño said.

Surprise attack

The measure said that various resolutions had been introduced in state legislatures and the US Congress supporting the return of the bells, including US House Resolution 16, introduced on Jan. 27, 2003, in the state of Maryland.

This particular resolution, Casiño said, recognizes that the surprise attack on the US garrison at Balangiga by Filipino forces must rightfully be viewed in the context of the Philippines’ struggle for independence from Spain and the United States.