US plans return of Balangiga Bells to the Philippines

The United States said it will return the Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines more than a century after the war between the two countries, during which US troops seized the church bells as trophies.

According to a statement made by the US Embassy in Manila, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has notified Congress that the department plans to return the Balangiga Bells to the Philippines at a date yet to be decided.

Even though the two countries have decades of close ties and a tight military alliance, the US has long refused to return the bells.

US troops took the church bells of Balangiga after killing thousands of Filipinos, including women and children of the town, which was a response to the death of 48 US soldiers at the hand of rebels during the Philippine-American war.

Two of the bells of Balangiga are currently at the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, while the third is exhibited as part of a traveling museum.

The US Embassy acknowledged that the Bells of Balangiga have “deep significance” for a number of people in both the US and the Philippines.