After decades of negotiations, the historic Balangiga bells return home to its rightful place, and they’re here to stay. The bells arrived at the Villamor Air Base around 10:30AM on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
The bells were carried by US Air Force C-130, which left a US Military base in Okinawa, Japan, reported GMA.
“I very proud and honored to be a part of this event of returning the Balangiga bells to the Filipino people. The returning of the bells was the right thing to do, and it is an important symbol of the Philippines’ independence,” US Ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim said.
US Embassy spokesperson earlier said the return of the bells is evidence of the Philippines and the United States’ enduring and important relationship, according to the report.
It can be remembered that talk of the bells returning to the Philippines began during the time of Pres. Fidel V. Ramos in 1993, who expressed his interest in retrieving the bells to then president Bill Clinton.
The bells were taken away by the Americans from the Philippines in 1901 from an Easter Samar church in retaliation to Filipino guerillas who killed 48 American soldiers.
Eventually, the Americans and Philippines forged alliances to defeat the Japanese occupation in 1945. This would be the start of decades-old friendship with the US: 1951 Mutual Defense Agreement, the 1999 Forces Agreement, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in February 2016.
The bells will be displayed at the Philippine Air Force museum from Wednesday to morning to Thursday afternoon and is free of charge.
President Duterte is expected to grace the turnover ceremony in an Eastern Samar on December 15. The handover ceremony is also extended to the Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez, US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, US Embassy spokesperson Molly Koscina, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Joe Felter, and Philippine Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Richard Gordon.
(Photo courtesy of the US Embassy in Manila – One of the three Balangiga bells)
