(Eagle News) — For the Palace, it was President Rodrigo Duterte’s strong political will that made the return of the Balangiga bells possible.
“Many have tried but it is our President’s strong political will and unquestionable dedication in asserting the rights of our country and its people which significantly contributed to this event coming into fruition,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
It was President Duterte who demanded for the return of the bells–taken by American soldiers from the town in Eastern Samar as war booty during the Philippine-American war—in his State of the Nation Address in July last year.
Duterte reiterated the same in subsequent speeches after that, noting the bells–which at that time had been housed in a military base in Wyoming in the United States, and in a US military facility in South Korea–formed part of the Philippines’ patrimony.
“We express our sincerest gratitude to all stakeholders from both the Philippines and the United States who worked tirelessly and selflessly for the return of the bells,” Panelo said on Tuesday, Dec. 11, the same day the bells arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay.
“This unprecedented gesture is well appreciated and will surely forge a stronger and more enduring relationship between the two long-time allies and friends as we finally close a tragic chapter in the two countries’ shared history,” he added.
Earlier, US Embassy in Manila spokesperson Molly Koscina said the return of the bells was “not due to any particular event or statement.”
She said there were “a number of presidents, a number of secretaries (of defense), a number of US and Philippine ambassadors who worked for the return of the Balangiga bells.”
“It was decades worth of work and protest from the veterans, and the legal issues that came with it,” she said.
