Duterte to lead ceremonial turnover of Balangiga Bells to Eastern Samar
President Rodrigo Duterte has finally decided to lead the ceremonial turnover of the Balangiga Bells to Eastern Samar on Saturday, December 15.
Initially, Duterte should have led government officials who received the bells when they arrived in the country from the United States and South Korea on December 11.
But Duterte did not attend the event as he was planning to instead participate in bringing them to Balangiga town in Eastern Samar.
On Wednesday night, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte would no longer go to Balangiga.
But after a few hours, he changed his statement, saying Duterte would attend the ceremonial turnover of the bells in Eastern Samar.
"Due to the persistent requests from the people of Eastern Samar who look forward to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s personally bringing the Balangiga bells to the town of Balangiga, the President has decided to attend the turnover ceremony of the Balangiga bells to the local officials on Saturday, December 15. The President has made changes in his schedule of activities to join the Filipino community in welcoming the return of the bells," he said.
While Duterte considers his physical presence at the ceremonial turnover an added attraction to the event, Panelo said, "he gives more importance to the fact that after 117 years, the Balangiga bells, which symbolize the bravery and patriotism of the Filipinos who refused to be subjugated by a foreign power and shed blood to assert the sovereignty of our country, have been returned to their origins where they properly belong. The bells are now indeed home."
The Balangiga Bells, two of which had been kept at the FE Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while the other at Camp Red Cloud, an American base in South Korea, were called as war booty during the American-Filipino war in 1901.
The Americans took the bells from Balangiga Church in Eastern Samar.
According to the Department of National Defense, the bells will leave Villamor Airbase at 6 am Friday for Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The bells will be brought by land to Balangiga town.
"The descendants of those who perished in one of the bloodiest and tragic consequences of the Filipino- American war rightfully cherish the coming home of a part of our national heritage and the Filipino nation join them in rejoicing the historic event," Panelo said.
"As the Balangiga bells resume their ringing after a silence of more than a century, the booming sounds that will come out of them will resonate around the world with the sterling message that foreign domination nor outside intrusion on its sovereignty has no place in this part of the world," he added.
The Philippine government had been persistent in asking the US to return the Balangiga Bells. Celerina Monte/DMS
