Balangiga Bells return in PH

The Balangiga Bells arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 11. (Photo: Ambassador Sung Kim/Twitter)

The long wait is over for Filipinos as the Balangiga Bells were brought back to the Philippines after 117 years.

The historic bells arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City at around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 11, through a United States (U.S.) C-130 plane that came from an American military base in Okinawa, Japan.

The two bells were previously located at Wyoming, where U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis officially announced the return of the Bells of Balangiga to the country in November, while the third bell was in a U.S. military base in South Korea.

[READ: After more than a century, U.S. announces return of Balangiga bells to PH]

These bells were seized by American troops from a church in Balangiga, Eastern Samar as war trophies, following the Balangiga massacre in 1901.

“It is my great honor to be here at this closing of a painful chapter in our history. The bells returned reflects the strong bonds and mutual respect between our two nations and our people,” U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim said in a speech at the handover ceremony, which was also attended by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez.

“It demonstrates our determination to honor the past and the sacrifices made together by Filipinos and Americans and it heralds a brights future as friends, partners, and allies. The bells of Balangiga are now home in the Philippines where they belong,” he added.

In his statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo welcomed this development and described the return of the Balangiga Bells as “historic and unprecedented.”

“This marks an important milestone in and gives new meaning to the shared history between the Philippines and the United States,” Panelo said.

“Stakeholders from both the Philippines and the United States worked tirelessly for the return of the Balangiga bells. They will be remembered as true friends of the Philippines and of Filipino heritage,” he continued.

The spokesman said President Rodrigo Duterte will attend the handover ceremony of the Balangiga Bells in Eastern Samar on December 15, Saturday.

It was on his second state of the nation address (SONA) in 2017 when Duterte first made an appeal to the U.S. government to bring back the three bells to the country.

Responding to Duterte’s call, the US government, in August 2018, said Mattis had notified Congress that the US government intends to return them, but at that time, there was no specific date yet for the turnover.