Solons welcome US plan to return Balangiga Bells

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Sunday welcomed the reported plan of the US Defense Department to return the historic Balangiga Bells to the Philippines.

"We welcome the endorsement of the US Secretary of Defense for the return of the Balangiga Bells. They rightfully belong to us as a symbol of freedom and justice," Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone told reporters in a text message.

Citing a statement from the US Embassy in Manila, Reuters reported that US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has notified Congress of the plan to return the bells to the Philippines.

The turnover date, however, has yet to be specified.

American troops seized the three bells from Balangiga town, now part of Eastern Samar, as war trophies following the so-called Balangiga massacre in 1901.

Two of the three Balangiga Bells are displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A third bell is with a US Army regiment in South Korea.

Evardone himself has filed a resolution seeking for the recovery of the bells.

He is hoping that the bells will be returned in time for the 127th anniversary of the Balangiga massacre on September 28.

"The return will hopefully  finally erase the remaining irritant or vestiges of the Philippine-American War," he said.

For his part, Northern Samar Representative Raul Daza hopes that the plan of the US Defense Department is "for real."

"If the bells are indeed returned to us, it would finally, rectify a grievous historical wrong inflicted by the Americans not only on the Samareños but rather on the Filipino nation," he said.

"[The bells] are an eloquent symbol of the courage and patriotism of the Filipino. They also are a reminder to the present generation of Filipinos that, as in the past, they should and can resist foreign domination in any form," he added.

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate said the US should "walk the talk" and return the bells and apologize for the atrocities they committed.

"These bells are emblematic of the continuing injustice committed against our country and people in the name of the hegemonic and imperialist greed of America," he said.

"Matagal na nilang sinasabi na isasauli na daw nila ang Balanggiga Bells pero hanggang ngayon ay wala pa rin. 'Wag silang paasa at ibalik na nila ngayon ang mga makasaysayang kampana ng Balanggiga," he added. —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News