THIS IS OURS Raising a clenched fist, President Rodrigo Duterte rings one of the three historic Balangiga Bells during a turnover ceremony in Eastern Samar. Beside him is Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. AFP PHOTO
BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar: The Balangiga Bells tolled for the first time on Philippine soil in over a century, with President Rodrigo Duterte himself ringing and kissing one of them during a turnover ceremony that brought closure to a longstanding dispute between the Philippines and the United States.
Duterte, who arrived at the ceremony shortly before 5 p.m., received the bells’ transfer certificate from US Deputy Chief of Mission John Law, and handed it to Balangiga Mayor Randy Graza.
After the turnover ceremony, Duterte proceeded to the three bells behind him, kissed one and tolled it seven times with a clenched fist in the air.
“Today’s gathering is indeed a time to be truly sentimental as we welcome back our Balangiga Bells. It has been 117 years since these bells were taken away from us. Yet, we never lost hope that someday, these treasures will be returned to where they belong,” Duterte said in his speech.
THIS IS OURS Raising a clenched fist, President Rodrigo Duterte rings one of the three historic Balangiga Bells during a turnover ceremony in Eastern Samar. Beside him is Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. AFP PHOTO
“We know fully well that several efforts to return the bells have been made by both America and the Philippines. It has been indeed a long and tedious process, to the point that the outcome was disappointing sometimes. But the long wait is over,” he added.
The three bells were taken by American soldiers in September 1901 from an Eastern Samar church after their massacre of Samareños in retaliation for a guerrilla attack on 48 members of the 9th US Infantry Regiment during the Filipino-American war.
Two of the three Balangiga bells used to be installed at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, while the third one was placed at a US Army museum in South Korea.
Credit due to all Filipinos
Duterte noted that “this victory is the result of the optimism and solidarity and patriotism of those behind the bells’ return, just [like] when our forefathers fought for freedom against foreign domination more than a century ago.”
But he stressed that the bells were returned “because of the fervent prayers of the entire Filipino nation.”
“Nobody but nobody can claim a singular credit for the generous act of the Americans. The bells are returned. The credit goes to the American people and to the Filipino people, period,” Duterte said.
“On behalf of a [grateful] nation, I thank all the stakeholders who contributed to ensure the return of the Balangiga Bells to the country,” he added.
The President said the homecoming of the bells was “truly a milestone in the shared and meaningful history of the United States and the Philippines, and heralds a new and more vibrant chapter in our bilateral relations.”
“More than just a part of the Balangiga Church, these bells are a significant element in our country’s religious and historical narrative. They are an enduring symbol of our history and treasure,” he said.
Duterte then expressed hope that the people of Balangiga and the rest of the country “will ensure the protection of these gems and will continue to preserve and promote our culture and history.”
“I congratulate the Filipino people for forging a history that [we] could all forever be proud of. I am sure that our ancestors are celebrating with us here on this remarkable victory and that does not only bring back the glory of the town of Balangiga, but also contributes in the full restoration of our dignity as a Filipino,” he said.
Prayer for soldiers
After the turnover, Duterte also prayed for the soldiers who took part in the 1901 Balangiga encounter.
The bells arrived in Manila on Tuesday, more than a year since Duterte called on the US to give them back in his 2017 State of the Nation Address.
Filipino soldiers flew the bells to the town of Guiuan via a C-130 plane on Friday morning and carted these to Balangiga in the afternoon.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the return of the bells would not only boost tourism activities in the town of Balangiga, but eventually make the Eastern Visayas region a top tourist destination.
Eastern Visayas tourism director Karina Rosa Tiopes said the government had given P629,000 to the local governments to start developing the areas.
“Enhancing other tourist destinations in Balangiga will make visitors stay longer, giving them the opportunity to get to know our people, experience our culture, taste our cuisine and discover the infinite wscapes in Eastern Visayas,” she said.
The government will also improve the Balangiga Incident Marker, which was funded by the Typhoon Yolanda Rehabilitation Project.
The improvement includes landscaping and beautification of the park and the small museum located at the back of the marker to make it more presentable to tourists and pilgrims.
The Balangiga Incident Marker was the work of National Artist Napoleon Abueva, inaugurated on the 102nd commemoration of the massacre on Sept. 28, 2003.
Mixed emotions
Saturday’s handover ceremony took place far from the town plaza that holds a monument with statues of the American soldiers having breakfast as the Filipino revolutionaries raise their machetes at the start of the onslaught.
Manila had pushed for the bells’ return since at least the 1990s, with backing from Philippine presidents, its influential Catholic Church and supporters in the United States.
But the repatriation was long held back by some American lawmakers and veterans who viewed the bells as tributes to fallen soldiers.
A confluence of factors earlier this year, that included a key veterans’ group dropping its opposition, culminated in the bells landing in Manila aboard a US military cargo plane on Tuesday for a solemn handover.
Duterte, 73, bluntly called on Washington in his 2017 State of the Nation Address: “Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are not yours.”
His arrival in power in mid-2016 was marked by moves to split from Manila’s historical ally and former colonial master the United States.
At the same time, Duterte signaled an end to the standoff with Beijing over the disputed South China Sea.
Yet for some in Balangiga the bells’ return is also a somber occasion tinged with the pain of the past, which has been passed from generation to generation.
“It’s mixed emotions because the bells also remind me of what happened,” Constancia Elaba, 62, told Agence France-Presse, adding how she grew up hearing stories of the episode from her father.
“It was painful and you cannot take it away from us. We can never forget that,” she said.
WITH NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS AND AFP
https://www.manilatimes.net/credit-belongs-to-all-filipinos/483457/
https://www.manilatimes.net/credit-belongs-to-all-filipinos/483457/
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