ARROYO GOV'T URGED TO STEP UP LOBBYING WITH U.S. FOR THE RETURN OF BALANGIGA BELLS

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged the Arroyo government to pursue the efforts for the return of the Balangiga Bells that were carted away by American troops during their occupation of Samar 107 years ago.

Pimentel lamented that the recovery of the historic Balangiga bells has not materialized despite persistent lobbying by the Philippine government and the positive response of the US government and American people to Manila's request for the return of at least one of the bells.

He said Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs should step up its lobbying and negotiation on the Balangiga bells to remove what is probably the last remaining irritant in Philippine-American diplomatic relations.

Upon Pimentel's initiative, the Senate approved Senate Resolution No. 48 urging the Arroyo administration to undertake formal negotiation with the US for the return of the Balangiga bells to their real owner - the parish church of Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

Actually, three bells were taken away by American occupation troops to cap a battle victory against Filipino insurrection troops in Balangiga. They all bear the emblem of the Franciscan order - bell one has a 1853 marking, bell two 1889 and bell three 1896.

The first two Balangiga bells have been on display as war trophies at the F.E. Warren Air Force base in Cheyene, Wyoming. The third bell, which is much smaller than the first two, is on display at the headquarters of the 9th Infantry Regiment of the US Army in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea.

The American troops also confiscated an English-made cannon dated 1557 during the siege of Balangiga town.

Pending with the House of Representatives is House Bill 268 filed by Rep. Bob Filner (Democrat-San Diego, California), authorizing the "transfer of ownership" of one of the two Balangiga bells on display at the Warren Air Force.

Pimentel said the Filner bill endorses a practical sharing formula that would enable both the Philippine and US to have an original and a duplicate of the two disputed bells.

"The approval of the Filner bill will pave the way for the return of one of the historic and priceless Balangiga bells which the Philippines has been trying to recover as the rightful owner of these religious and cultural artifacts," Pimentel said.

"I share the view of Congressman Filner that this will symbolize a dramatic and healing gesture of cooperation, alliance and friendship between Americans and Filipinos," the senator added.

The Balangiga bells were taken as war booty by American troops under Gen. Jacob Smith who had been ordered by his superiors to cleanse Balangiga and other Samar towns of "bandits." They were also tasked to take punitive action against the insurgents who had massacred 48 American soldiers and wounded 22 other soldiers of the 9th US Infantry Regiment who were then garrisoned in the coastal town on Sept. 28, 1901.

Pimentel said the US does not need the Balangiga bells except to remind itself of its colonial rule in the Philippines and its use of military might to subjugate freedom-loving Filipinos.