(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar – The return of the historic bells to the town is sure to boost its tourism industry.
Thus said, Karina Rosa Tiopes, regional director of the Department of Tourism, citing possible impact on the repatriation of the three bells to this town.
To recall, the US government has formally turn over the bells to the Philippine government on November 15(Philippine time) in a simple ceremony at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where two of the three Balangiga Bells were put in display for more than a century.
The other bell is located at Camp Red Cloud, a US camp located in Uijeongbu City, South Korea.
But Tiopes said that more than the excitement and the tourism aspect on the return of the bells will bring, Filipinos should learn the lessons and what the bells symbolizes.
“There are lessons that we can learn from this historical event which we can apply in our present time like patriotism that is an important obligation for us Filipinos. We need to be patriotic to show our love for our country,” Tiopes said.
Town priest Serafin Tybaco, Jr. said that the local Church and the local government are to meet on November 23 to discuss on what activities to do relative to the return of the bells to the town.
“This is the first time for this meeting. I’m not yet aware of what are to be discussed but it is all about the return of Balangiga Bells,” Tybaco Jr., parish priest of Saint Lawrence the Martyr, said.
He said that it’s not only the Church that is happy on the return of the bells, but the entire people of the town, in particular.
“This is a long-time dream for the people of Balangiga and for the Church that the bells should be return,” Tybaco said.
For almost four decades, parish priests who were assigned in Balangiga made petitions for the return of the three bells.
President Rodrigo Duterte had asked the US government for the return of the bells during his State of the Nation Address in 2017.
War veterans, both Filipinos and Americans, also helped in the call for the return of the bells.
The Balangiga Bells were taken on October 18, 1901 by the 11th Infantry Regiment as spoils of war after the Balangiga Incident that happened on September 28, 1901, when town residents led by Valeriano Abanador initiated an attack against US soldiers under Company C of the 9th US Infantry Regiment.
Of the 74 US troops, 36 were killed during the attack, eight of the wounded died later during the escape by bancas to Basey town, and four were missing and presumed dead.
Around 2,500 Filipinos were killed by the US retaliatory attack that turned the town and the entire Samar into a “howling wilderness”.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
