(Eagle News) — The historic Balangiga bells have officially been turned over to the Philippines.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato made the announcement in a social media post.
According to Cato, Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez was at the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming for the official turnover with US Defense Secretary James Mattis.
“We return 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 peoples..We return the bells with consideration of our present and also with the utmost respect of our past, one of shared sacrifice as co-equal brothers and sisters in arms,” Mattis said in his speech.
Mattis also paid tribute to the Filipino soldiers who fought side by side with the Americans and helped them in Corregidor, Korea, Vietnam and the war against terror, among others.
“For we in the US military do not forget those who stood by our side when the chips were dealt..We recognize 117 years of enduring friendship between our people and comradeship and some of the toughest fighting in our nations’ history,” Mattis said.
It was President Rodrigo Duterte who lashed out at the US for taking the bells from Eastern Samar in 1901 in his second State of the Nation Address.
The American soldiers had taken the bells as war booty, after killing thousands, including Filipino women and children, after the killing of 48 US soldiers by rebels during the war.
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