US Ambassador says return of Balangiga bells symbol of US commitment to heal historical wound

Two Balangiga bells exhibited at Fort D.A. Russel, now F. E. Warren Air Force Base located in Cheyenne, Wyoming in the United States. (Photo courtesy wikimedia commons)

 

(Eagle News) — United States ambassador Sung Kim said the historic return today of the three Balangiga bells to the Philippines represented the US commitment to “heal a wound that had strained the US-Philippines relationship for too long.”

The US military plane carrying the bells are expected to arrive before noon today, Tuesday, December 11, 2018.

It had already departed the US Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan this morning.

“This morning, a US Air Force plane bearing three historic bells from San Lorenzo de Martir Church in Balangiga will land at Villamor Air Force Base. These bells were taken 117 years ago; later today it will be my honor to return them,” said Ambassador Kim in a statement published by the Philippine Star.

“Their safe return is thanks to the efforts of US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, supported by President Trump, and is driven by respect for the Philippines, our friend, partner, and ally,” he said.

-President Duterte’s demand in SONA 2017: “Give us back those Balangiga bells-

It was President Rodrigo Duterte, in his State of the Nation Address last year, who demanded emphatically for the US to return the Balangiga bells.

“Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,” he said on July 24 last year during his SONA speech which was also attended by US Ambassador Kim.

The President referred to the historical pain attached to the Balangiga Bells which were taken by the US forces after killing what historians estimated as around 50,000 Filipinos aged 10 and above in Samar in 1901.

“Isauli naman ninyo. Masakit yun sa amin,” he stressed referring to the Balangiga bells during his two-hour SONA.

Kim said that “this decision to return the bells is consistent with our values and overwhelmingly viewed as the right thing to do.”

“From World War II to today’s struggle to defeat ISIS and the scourge of terrorism, our militaries have fought together, bled together, at times died together. As your ally and friend, we will forever honor and respect this shared history,” he said in the published statement.

Kim said that the struggle to have the bells returned had been the work of “good hearted individuals and groups” who labored for decades to bring the bells home.

“Former presidents, Cabinet secretaries, Philippine and US ambassadors, historians, philanthropists and many others worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the history of the bells and to advocate for their dignified return,” he said.

-Turning point for bells’ return-

The US ambassador explained that the “ turning point in this century-long saga” happened in October 2017 during the 2017 ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in Clark.

There, US Defense Secretary Mattis met with his counterpart, Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana who raised the issue of the “Balangiga Bells.”

“Later that day, in a meeting with President Duterte, Secretary Mattis stated definitively that it would be his personal initiative to find a way to return these religious artifacts,” he said.

“In the Secretary’s words, ‘all wars end,’ and it was time to heal a wound that had strained the US-Philippines relationship for too long,” Kim said.

After the meeting, Kim said he maintained direct communications with defense secretary and worked, along with his staff, for the bells’ “swift return.”

On Aug. 9, Secretary Mattis announced his intent to return the bells, he said.

After this announcement was a legally-required 90-day waiting period.

Finally, on Nov. 14, Mattis traveled to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, and, in a solemn ceremony, officially informed Philippine Ambassador to the United States Babe Romualdez that the bells would at last be returned to the Philippines.

“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 peoples,” said Mattis.

“Ambassador [Romualdez], bear these bells home, back to their Catholic Church, confident that America’s ironclad alliance with the Philippines is stronger than ever,” he said then.

“Today we do not focus on looking back or relitigating a painful chapter in our past but investing in our shared future,” Kim said in his statement published in the Philippine Star.

“Ours is a close friendship, and we do not take it for granted. Strengthening and maintaining it requires sustained commitment and investment. To these bells – the Bells of San Lorenzo De Martir – welcome home. We wish you safe onward travel to Samar and your church in Balangiga,” he said.