Posted on 12/08/2018 11:23:27 PM PST by Oscar in Batangas
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo Sunday said the return of the Balangiga bells to the Philippines is of significant importance especially to the people of Eastern Samar, who were deprived of the bells for more than a century already...
...[Defense Secretary Delfin] Lorenzana said the historic bells will be flown in by an American military aircraft at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City before noon on Tuesday.
President Duterte is expected to witness the return of the Balangiga bells, which for more than a century, were kept at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
Upon arrival, the bells will be briefly viewed by the President and other invited guests to be followed by speeches from Lorenzana, United States Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Philip Davidson who will represent US Defense Secretary James Mattis, and US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.mb.com.ph ...
The USA may have rejuvenated a much-needed friendship in a very important part of the world --- even though the 'friend' is a rather weak one.
From the article:
“Lorenzana also reiterated that the return of the historic bells.will finally put a closure to one of the dark pages in the country’s history when these were taken by American soldiers as war booty during the bloody Philippine-American war almost 117 years ago.
Background historical information:
Townspeople in the area used the bells to signal the onset of an ambush on the US Army troops waging war against them.
That falls under the “all’s fair in love and war” exclusion to decent human behavior at the time, I’m sure.
It is very good to put that ugly moment behind the two parties after 115+ years.
Apologies for the mis-spelling of ‘Manila’ in the source document reference. However the link works fine
Oranges and Lemons, say the Bells of Sain... oh, never mind!
I am OK with returning those bells to the Philippines, but not with returning Santa Anna’s leg to Mexico.
Any Muslims in Samar? They’d melt the bells for scrap!
Probably are...somebody has to sell those pirated DVDs in the public market
There probably are a few Muslims in the provinces of Samar, but its certainly sub-1% of the population.
The Philippine-American war gets short shrift, but was much bloodier than the Spanish-American war just a few years earlier in that part of the world.
The Balangiga massacre[6] was an incident in 1901 in the town of the same name during the Philippine–American War. It initially referred to the killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry by the townspeople allegedly augmented by guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island during an attack on September 28 of that year. This incident was described as the United States Army's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
The attack and the subsequent retaliation remains one of the longest-running and most controversial issues between the Philippines and the United States.[6] Conflicting records from American and Filipino historians have confused the issue. According to some Filipino historians, such as Teodoro Agoncillo, the true “Balangiga massacre” was the subsequent retaliation against the Samar population and guerrillas when American soldiers turned arsonists burning whole towns during the March across Samar.
After the massacre, the United States Army took three church bells as war trophies. One church bell remains in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at their base in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, while the other two are on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Demands for the return of the bells of the church at Balangiga has remained an outstanding issue of contention between the countries. On August 11, 2018, the United States embassy in Manila announced that the bells would be returned to Balangiga.
TO put today’s return of the Balangiga bells into proper perspective:
Suppose the British had hauled off the Liberty Bell during the War of 1812 and finally returned it to its home in Philadelphia today. All Americans (well the ones who appreciate our heritage, at least) would be echoing SloJoe Biden’s most memorable remark: “This is a big {you can supply the expletive} deal.
I for one am so delighted that the presidents over the past 115 years have ignored the pleas of the Filipino people for the return of their Balangiga Bells.
Why???
Because it shows the World Community one more time what an awesome President we have and how he truly cares for some of the least among us around the world and #WWG1WGA.
Great Job, Mr. President.
There’s about to be a big party over here.
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