The journey of the Balangiga

Bells
After 117 years, the church bells taken by the US Army from Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 1901, are
coming back home.

In the midst of the Filipino-American War, the tolling of the bells on the morning of September 28,
1901 signaled the start of a sneak attack by dozens of Balangiga villagers that almost wiped out a
company of US soldiers.

In retaliation for the American defeat, US General Jacob Smith ordered the killing and burning of all
men above the age of 10, leaving some 2,000 Samareños killed.

The bells were later taken by American troops back to the United States as war booty, but they also
symbolized the Filipinos' ability to resist foreign invaders.

Here's a brief timeline of key events on the Balangiga Bells.

FAST FACTS: Balangiga

Massacre
MANILA, Philippines – The Balangiga Massacre was one of the bloodiest events during
the Philippine-American War.

To this day, the United States considers this as their “worst single defeat” in the history
of the 3-year war from 1899 to 1902. The Philippines has also not forgotten.

Republic Act 6692 enacted on February 10, 1989, declared September 28 of every year
as "Balangiga Encounter Day," a special non-working holiday in Eastern Samar to
commemorate the uprising of fellow Filipinos and to honor the gallantry of those killed.

In 2008, however, Malacañang issued Proclamation No. 1629 moving the

commemoration of Balangiga Encounter Day that year to September 30. The provincial
government had requested this, since September 28, 2008, fell on a Sunday. Eastern
Samar officials believed the province and its people would be given the "full opportunity"
to observe the occasion if it were held on September 30, 2008, a Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know about the Balangiga Massacre:

Why it started

In the beginning, residents of Balangiga town and Company C, the 9th US infantry
regiment, had a good relationship. According to historians, relations went downhill after
two American soldiers allegedly tried to molest a Filipino woman tending a store.

When locals came to the woman's defense, the soldiers wanted revenge. Since then,
people in Balingaga were subjected to forced labor and detention with only little food
and water.

The locals also protested the move of the US garrison to cut food and other supplies in
the town.

Balangiga police chief Valeriano Abanador, along with guerilla officers Captain Eugenio
Daza and Sergeant Pedro Duran Sr, plotted the uprising against the Americans.

According to historian Stuart Miller in his book Benevolent Assimilation, Balangiga men
disguised as women hid weapons inside small caskets which were brought to the
church under the pretext that a cholera epidemic had killed many children.

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Reinforcements from neighboring towns also entered Balangiga several days before the
attack under the guise of preparations for a fiesta.

How it happened

The plan was executed on September 28, 1901, during the supposed funeral procession for
children killed by cholera. Abanador initiated the first strike by shooting an American sentry
after chatting with him.

The church of Balangiga rang its bells, signaling the start of the attack. The men dressed as
women pulled out their weapons – mainly machetes – and attacked the US troops. Locals also
headed to the barracks to attack unsuspecting American soldiers.

At least 48 out of the 78 American soldiers were killed during the surprise attack.

The following day, American forces decided to retaliate. General Jacob H. Smith vowed that he
would turn the town into a "howling wilderness," earning him the nickname "Howling Jake."

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"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn. The more you kill and burn the better it will
please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against
the United States," Smith said.

Smith's remark became even more infamous when he instructed his men to "kill everyone over
10." Soldiers also burned and looted the villages in Balangiga.

The killings did not end there, as the US continued to enforce a "scorched-earth policy" until
1902, which meant the total destruction of the town and its people.

There is no exact estimate on the number of Filipinos killed, despite what some resources have
previously said that about 2,500 were killed during the duration of the massacre.

Recent study by the Balangiga Research group found that most soldiers "counter-manded" the
kill-and-burn order, which meant that some soldiers refused to claim innocent lives and resorted
only to destruction of homes and livelihood

The Americans brought home the church bells of Balangiga as "trophies of war." Twoare under
the custody of US troops in the "Trophy Park" of the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in
Wyoming, while the other is with the US military unit in South Korea.

Moves to return the bells

The Philippines has been asking for the return of the bells as early as 1958, when Jesuit priest
Horacio dela Costa wrote a letter to American military historian Chip Wards seeking help for
this purpose.

President Fidel Ramos was the first Philippine president to negotiate the return of the bells with a
US President, Bill Clinton, who agreed to the request. However, the return was stalled due to an
apparent conflict in US military laws.

In his 2017 State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte asked the US toreturn the
bells as they are “reminders of the gallantry and heroism of our forebears who resisted the
American colonizers and sacrificed their lives in the process.”

On August 11, 2018, the US embassy in Manila announced that the US defense department had
notified the US Congress of its intention to return the bells to the Philippines, but no date had
been set. The return of the bells needs congressional concurrence.

Some US veterans groups and lawmakers are opposed to the move, as the bells are seen as
memorials to fallen US soldiers.