US committed to returning Balangiga bells to PHL, envoy says

United States Ambassador Sung Kim on Tuesday backed calls for the return of the Balangiga bells, saying Washington was committed to bringing back to the Philippines the war booties seized during the Filipino-American war.

The Philippine government has for decades repeatedly asked the US for the return of the bells but Washington was always non-committal.

In his last state of the nation address, President Rodrigo Duterte, a vocal critic of the US, demanded the return of the relics.

“We want to return them,” Kim said but added that there were “issues” in the US that needed to be threshed out before the bells can be returned to the Philippines.

“It’s difficult for me to predict the exact time, but I assure you that we are deeply committed to making sure that the bells are returned to the Filipino people and I hope  that we will be able to see some progress in the not too distant future,” he added.

“I believe it's the right thing to do and I really do hope that we will be able to return the bells soon,” Kim told journalists at a dialogue arranged by the US Embassy in Manila Tuesday.

Kim said there was “an ongoing effort” and “an ongoing discussion within the US government and the Philippine government to try and facilitate the return of these bells as quickly as possible.”     

One of the three church bells is at the US base in South Korea, while two others are in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Historical accounts indicate that one of the bells was used to signal the surprise attack by Filipino fighters against American soldiers in Samar.

The attack claimed the lives of more than 40 US soldiers.

The US retaliated by killing thousands of Filipinos including children.

Kim acknowledged that the bells are” emotionally and historically important” for the Filipino people. —NB/KVD, GMA News