- Balangiga bells
The Balangiga bells are three
church bell s taken byUnited States forces from the town church ofBalangiga, Eastern Samar in thePhilippines aswar booty after reprisals following the Balangiga incident in 1901 during thePhilippine-American War . One church bell is in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment atCamp Red Cloud , their base inSouth Korea ,cite web | last = | first = | title =Voluntary Return of One Balangiga Bell by US Seen | url=http://www.nenepimentel.org/news/20031002_Balangiga.asp | accessdate = 2008-03-20] cite web | last =Borrinaga | first =Rolando | title =Solving the Balangiga bell puzzle | url=http://www.geocities.com/rolborr/balbellspuzzle.html | accessdate = 2008-03-19] while two others are on a former base of the11th Infantry Regiment atF. E. Warren Air Force Base inCheyenne, Wyoming .cite web | last =Medroso | first =Leonardo | title =The Bells of Balangiga: An Appeal for Support | url=http://www.cbcponline.net/borongan/html/balangiga_bells.html | accessdate = 2008-03-19] At least one of the bells had tolled to signal the surprise attack by Filipino insurgents that claimed the lives of more than forty soldiers of the American garrison posted in the town.Balangiga incident
On
September 28 ,1901 , the villagers of Balangiga ambushed Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, while they were at breakfast, killing an estimated 48 and wounding 22 of the 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt. The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition. An estimated 20 to 25 of the guerrillas had died in the fighting, with a similar number of wounded. [cite web | last =Bautista | first =Veltisezar | title =The Balangiga, Samar, Massacre | url=http://www.filipinoamericans.net/balangiga_massacre.shtml | accessdate = 2008-03-20]In reprisal, General
Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and that any Filipino male above ten years of age capable of bearing arms be shot if they refuse to surrender. From the burned-out Catholic town church, the Americans recovered three bells which they took back to the United States aswar booty . The 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, however, maintains that the single bell in their possession was presented to the regiment by villagers when the unit left Balangiga onApril 9 ,1902 .cite news | last =Robson | first =Seth | title =Book casts doubt on bell's history | pages = | publisher =Stars and Stripes | date =2004-07-07 | url =http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=22261&archive=true | accessdate = 2008-03-21] Smith and his primary subordinate, MajorLittleton Waller of theUnited States Marine Corps were both court-martialled for illegal vengeance against the civilian population of Samar. Waller was acquitted of the charges. Smith was found guilty, admonished and retired from service. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1902: A Working Bibliography | url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/mil_hist_inst/p/pi2.asc | accessdate = 2008-03-20]The bells
Balangiga, which became a parish on
September 27 ,1859 , may have taken four years to raise the funds needed to acquire their first church bell. This is believed to be the large 1863 bell now in Wyoming. It bears what is probably an Augustinianemblem and has a mouthdiameter of 31¼ inches and height of 30 inches. The name inscribed on the bell, "R. San Francisco", it is believed, belonged to the parish priest at that time.The town probably acquired its second bell in 1889. The medium-sized bell, inscribed with the name of Fr. Agustin Delgado in
Latin – "Augustin Delcado", is also in Wyoming. It bears aFranciscan emblem and has a mouth diameter of 27¾ inches and height of 27½ inches.The third and smallest bell may have been acquired in 1895, through the initiative of Fr. Bernardo Aparecio. This is the bell now kept by the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea. Estimates of its size deduce a 23-24 inch height and a mouth diameter of about 20 inches. It also bears the Franciscan emblem.
The bells at
F.E. Warren Air Force Base are kept in its Trophy Park, hung from a crescent-shaped monument of brick. A glass case nearby houses the 400-year-old British Falconcannon that was also taken from the village along with the bells and brought to Wyoming by the11th Infantry Regiment in 1904. [cite news | last =Mead | first =Griver | title =For Whom the Bells Toll | pages = | publisher =AsianWeek.com | date =2001-10-11 | url =http://asianweek.com/2001_10_05/news_bells.html | accessdate = 2008-03-21] This seven-foot cannon is described in F.E. Warren Air Force Base's fact sheets as a Queen Mary Tudor cannon forged in 1557. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Fact Sheets:F.E. Warren History | url=http://www.warren.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4696 | accessdate = 2008-03-23] The bell in the possession of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment is kept at the 2nd Infantry Division Museum inCamp Red Cloud ,Uijeongbu ,South Korea . It had previously been displayed at the unit'sCamp Hovey headquarters.Attempts at recovery
In the mid 90's, during the term of
Fidel V. Ramos as Philippine President, attempts were initiated by his government to recover all or a portion of the bells fromBill Clinton 's administration. [cite web | last = | first = | title =The Saga of the Balangiga Bells | url=http://davinci.rodal-intl.org:8020/rudy/filipinas/balangiga.html | accessdate = 2008-03-20] [cite web | last = | first = | title =The Bells of Balangiga Revisited | url=http://www.philnews.com/2005/da.html | accessdate = 2008-03-19] The United States government has been adamant that the bells are US government property, that it would take anAct of Congress to return them and that the Catholic Church has no say in the matter. For their part theCatholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines hold the position that the bells are inappropriate as trophies of war.In 2002, the Philippine Senate approved Senate Resolution No. 393, authored by
Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. , urging the Arroyo administration to undertake formal negotiations with the United States for the return of the bells.In 2005, the bishop of
Borongan ,Samar , Bishop Leonardo Medroso and Balangiga parish priest Saturnino Obzunar wrote an open letter addressed to PresidentGeorge W. Bush , theUnited States Congress and theHelsinki Commission , requesting them to facilitate the return of the bells. [cite news | last =Pilapil | first =Jaime | title =Balangiga bells to be returned to RP soon | pages = | publisher =Manila Standard Today | date =2005-11-14 | url =http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news03_nov14_2005 | accessdate = 2008-03-20] That same year, the Wyoming Veterans’ Commission favored the return of the Filipino-American War relics, however,Wyoming GovernorDave Freudenthal stated that he disagreed with the Commission and opposed returning the bells to the Philippines. [cite news | last =Lariosa | first =Joseph | title =US vets group wants to return Balangiga Bells to RP | pages = | publisher =The Filipino Express | date =2005-04-14 | url =http://www.filipinoexpress.com/19/16_news.html | accessdate = 2008-03-20]On September 26, 2006, United States Congressman
Bob Filner , CongressmanDana Rohrabacher and CongressmanEd Case co-sponsored House Concurrent Resolution No. 481 urging the President of the United States to authorize the return of the church bells. [cite news | last =Sampayan | first =Sonny | title =Bells of Balangiga Resolution filed in U.S. Congress | pages = | publisher =Samar News.com | date =2006-09-29 | url =http://www.samarnews.com/news_clips5/news85.htm | accessdate = 2008-03-20]In 2007,
Napoleón Abueva , the Philippines' National Artist for sculpture, wrote American Ambassador to the PhilippinesKristie Kenney asking for her help in the bells' recovery. [cite news | last = | first = | title =Help return Balangiga bells | pages = | publisher =Philstar Global Corp. | date =2007-07-26 | url =http://www.philstar.com/scripts/article_print.php?Archives&id=20070725191&type=2 | accessdate = 2008-03-20]On October 25, 2007, during the
14th Congress of the Philippines , SenatorManny Villar filed Senate Resolution No. 177, a resolution "expressing the sense of the Senate for the return to the Philippines of the Balangiga Bells which were taken by the US troops from the town of Balangiga, Province of Samar in 1901". [cite web | last =Villar | first =Manuel | title =14th Congress - Senate Resolution No. 177 | url=http://www.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=14&q=SRN-177 | accessdate = 2008-03-20]Despite all efforts to recover them, the bells remain under US government control.
In popular culture
A
Chicago -based, Philippine-Americantheater company called The Pintig Cultural Group presented a musical based on the incident, "The Bells of Balangiga." [cite news | last =Brooke | first =James | title = U.S.-Philippines History Entwined in War Booty| pages = | publisher =The New York Times | date =1997-12-01 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E5DC1F3AF932A35751C1A961958260| accessdate = 2008-03-21]ee also
*
Balangiga massacre
*Philippine-American War External links
* [http://www.cbcponline.net/borongan/html/balangiga_bells.html Official Stand of the Philippine Catholic Church regarding the Bells of Balangiga]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2003/10/18/ba_bells918.jpgImage of the two Balangiga bells at F. E. Warren Air Force Base]
* [http://www.stripes.com/photos/23155_76154330.jpgImage of the third Balangiga bell in South Korea]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.152586,-104.856632&spn=0.001967,0.00501&t=k&z=18&om=0 F.E. Warren Air Force Base Trophy Park on Google Maps]References
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