President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the United States to return the Balangiga bells, which were taken by the Americans over a century ago.

In his State of the Nation Address on Monday, Duterte recalled what happened in 1901, the time for Philippine-American War, particularly in Eastern Samar.

"The Church bells of Balangiga were seized by the Americans as spoils of war. Those bells are reminders of the gallantry and heroism of our forebears who resisted the American colonizers and sacrificed their lives in the process," he said.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim was present during the SONA.

"That is why I say today; give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage. Return them. It's painful for us," Duterte said.

He recalled a combined group of Filipino villagers and guerrillas, in an effort to defend Samar Island, attacked and overwhelmed a US infantry garrison.

"Forty-eight American officers and men were slain in the attack. On the Filipino side, the casualty count was twenty-eight killed and twenty-two wounded. In retaliation, U.S. gunboats and patrols were sent to Balangiga, Samar with the order to '...make a desert of Balangiga' and to reduce Samar Island into an island of 'howling wilderness,' where every male citizen from the age of ten and above, and capable of bearing arms, would be put to death," Duterte said. Celerina Monte/DMS