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Make sure US returns authentic bell, Balangiga hero's grandson tells government

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Patrick Quintos, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/08/14/20180814-balangiga-forum.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>Moderator Wilson Lee Flores, &#x27;Balangiga&#x27; film producer Achinette Villamor, director Khavn dela Cruz, Balangiga hero descendant Eugenio Roy Daza, and former Education Undersecretary Butch Valdes at the &quot;Pandesal Forum&quot; on the Balangiga battle. <em>Patrick Quintos, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – The Philippine government must make sure that the United States will return the authentic Balangiga bell, a descendant of a man who fought in the 1901 battle against Americans in Eastern Samar said Tuesday. </p><p>This after the US government expressed its intention to return the bells taken by its troops as &quot;war booty&quot; during the Philippine-American war.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/11/18/us-defense-chief-backs-return-of-balangiga-bells-to-ph">US defense chief backs return of Balangiga bells to PH</a></li></ul><p>Eugenio Roy Daza, grandson and namesake of a Balangiga hero, claimed a written account of his grandfather and another one of an American soldier prove that the US only took one bell, not three.</p><p>&quot;Isa lang ng kinuha ng mga Amerikano eh, hindi naman tatlo (The Americans only took one bell, not three),&quot; he told reporters in a forum in Quezon City, adding that the bells on display in Wyoming are not authentic. </p><p>&quot;One of the bells which were rang on the memorable day of the battle were taken by the Americans to the United states,&quot; he added, quoting from a memoir by his grandfather written in 1933.</p><p>Daza said he also went to the US to research the official archives where he found a document saying the Balangiga bells in Wyoming were proven to be false. </p><p>He added that American soldiers took thousands of bells from different Philippine towns they invaded during the war as a matter of policy.</p><p>&quot;I would like to request [Foreign Affairs] Secretary [Alan Peter] Cayetano to conduct an inquiry or ask the US Ambassador to be honest kung totoo ba &#x27;yung bell na ibibigay sa &#x27;tin (if the bell they intend to return is authentic),&quot; Daza added.</p><p>President Rodrigo Duterte, during his State of the Nation Address last year, called for the return of the church bells taken by the US Army in 1901.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Balangiga massacre&#x27; from the Filipino perspective </strong></div><p>Daza insisted that what happened in the town of Balangiga in September 1901 was a battle and not a massacre, as both the American and Philippine sides lost dozens of men. </p><p>He said in order to attack the American outpost, revolutionaries dressed as women entered the town of Balangiga carrying guns in coffins, pretending that there was a funeral procession.</p><p>Early in the morning, he continued, while the American troops were having breakfast, the revolutionaries attacked by surprise, killing dozens in the invaders&#x27; camp. The Filipinos lost a lot of men too.</p><p>&quot;Hindi &#x27;yan massacre (It was not a massacre). Out of 43 Americans who died, more than 30 Filipinos also died. It was a battle,&quot; said Daza, whose grandfather was among leaders who planned the attack. </p><p>The massacre, said historian John Ray Ramos, happened when US General Jacob Smith ordered scores of American troops to kill and burn the people of Samar and &quot;turn it into a howling wilderness.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Every able-bodied male 9 or 10 above were killed,&quot; Ramos, who teaches history at the Far Eastern University, told ABS-CBN News in a separate interview. </p><p>&quot;Sa Philippine perspective &#x27;yun ang massacre (In the Philippine perspective, that&#x27;s a massacre).&quot; </p><p>But Ramos said even American citizens that time condemned the order of General Smith, who was also a veteran of battles where native Americans were brutally killed. </p><p>He said the return of the Balangiga bells would not just be a return of the heritage of Samareños but may also give them closure. </p><p>&quot;Isang historical thorn sa PH-US relations ay mabubunot (This will get rid of a historical thorn in PH-US relations).&quot;</p><p>For Daza, the Balangiga incident should always be remembered as a victory of the Filipino resistance in Samar. </p><p>&quot;It gives us pride, puwede pala nating matalo ang isang superpower (we can defeat a superpower).&quot; </p><div><strong>&#x27;Balangiga: Howling Wilderness&#x27; </strong></div><p>&quot;Balangiga: Howling Wilderness,&quot; a movie about this episode in Philippine history, will screen as part of the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino beginning Wednesday. </p><p>While the film will only screen in cinemas in Metro Manila, its producer and screenwriter Achinette Villamor said anyone could go to their local cinemas and request for the movie. </p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/balangigathemovie/photos/a.122450515062805.1073741829.117869715520885/248131332494722/?type=3&amp;theater" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Villamor, whose team went into deep research for the film, said they wanted to tell a story through the lens of the people of Balangiga during that time. </p><p>The film, which tells the saga of 8-year-old Kulas escaping the &quot;kill and burn&quot; order in Samar with his grandfather and their carabao, won accolades in the Famas, Gawad Urian, and QCinema awards.</p>

<p>MANILA – The Philippine government must make sure that the United States will return the authentic Balangiga bell, a descendant of a man who fought in the 1901 battle against Americans in Eastern Samar said Tuesday. <br /> </p>

MANILA – The Philippine government must make sure that the United States will return the authentic Balangiga bell, a descendant of a man who fought in the 1901 battle against Americans in Eastern Samar said Tuesday.

Make sure US returns authentic bell, Balangiga hero's grandson tells government

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Make sure US returns authentic bell, Balangiga hero's grandson tells government

Patrick Quintos,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 14, 2018 06:03 PM PHT

Read More:

Balangiga

Samar

US

America

Philippine

War

Howling Wildnerness

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