Balangiga reiterates call for bells’ return

THE Balangiga Encounter Day was commemorated Wednesday with officials reiterating the call for the return of historic bells taken by American troops as war booties 110 years ago.

Town Mayor Viscuso de Lira is hoping that the Americans will support the desire of town folks to recover the bells as a symbol of good ties between the United States and the Philippines.

“We hope that they won’t consider the bells as war trophies anymore. No efforts have been made by the Municipal Government for the bell’s return but we are counting the efforts of many groups,” De Lira told reporters after the commemoration program.

Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone said Congress passed last June House Resolution 112, also known as a “Resolution Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives Calling for the Return by the United States Government of the Three (3) Bells of Balangiga and other Artifacts Taken from the Province of Samar as War Booty during the Philippine-American War.”

“There’s a need to return the bells to erase the last vintage of the Philippine-American,” the lawmaker said.

The Balangiga bells were taken after reprisals following the Balangiga encounter in 1901 during the Philippine-American War.

Report from Sun.Star