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Why US agreed to return Balangiga Bells after a century

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - A change in &quot;approach&quot; about the significance of the Balangiga Bells was key in the return of war booty to the Philippines, a Filipino military professor involved in the repatriation of the items said Tuesday.</p><p>The United States earlier confirmed that it will give back the church bells taken by US soldiers from Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 1901.</p><p>The group had to clarify &quot;misconceptions&quot; that the return of the bells does not equate to &quot;dishonoring the 44 Americans who died in the Battle of Balangiga,&quot; retired Consul General and Philippine Military Academy Prof. Sonny Busa told ANC&#x27;s Dateline Philippines.</p><p>&quot;When we cast the message that these bells belong to the people, to call the people to church, then we were able to sway some minds that this is not a military symbol but a symbol of peace,&quot; Busa said.</p><p>&quot;It worked now because the approach was not one of blame, but just one of shared interest, a commonality,&quot; he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/12/18/us-to-return-balangiga-bells-to-philippines">Balangiga Bells to begin journey home to Philippines</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1419367" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div><strong>Veterans&#x27; support</strong></div><p>It was easier to get the US government&#x27;s nod on the proposal to return the bells after Filipino negotiators earned the support of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the US, Busa said.</p><p>The VFW is the &quot;largest and oldest war veterans service organization&quot; in the United States.</p><p>&quot;For years they have opposed the return of the bells. Only last year, they passed a resolution approving it,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Once we got the VFW on our side, it was clear sailing because no politician wants to go against the VFW,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>Filipino goodwill</strong></div><p>The return of the bells to Balangiga will prove that &quot;we can move past those bad times and be where we are at today,&quot; Busa said.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s about the cooperation and recognition of the relations of US and Philippines,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;It is supposed to be a symbol of peace and understanding. It will show that the Philippines is a staunch ally of the US,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;For strong international relations that will benefit the US, it is good to have the goodwill of many Filipinos,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>Not just Duterte</strong></div><p>In 2016, ties between the Manila and Washington soured after President Rodrigo Duterte slammed then US President Barrack Obama for criticizing his bloody war on drugs.</p><p>Duterte turned away from its traditional ally Washington as he forged closer ties with neighboring Beijing.</p><p>In his second State of the Nation Address in 2017, Duterte called on the US to return the bells to the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,&quot; Duterte said in his speech.</p><p>Busa clarified that Duterte was not the only Philippine president who attempted to repatriate the bells.</p><p>&quot;I disagree with the observations that President Duterte is the only one that brought this up,&quot; Busa said.</p><p>&quot;President Ramos in 1996 made a big attempt to bring it back, every Philippine president since then has tried to get it but it just fell on deaf ears because of the barriers to understanding,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>A change in "approach" about the significance of the Balangiga Bells was key in the return of war booty to the Philippines, a Filipino military professor involved in the repatriation of the items said Tuesday.</p>

A change in "approach" about the significance of the Balangiga Bells was key in the return of war booty to the Philippines, a Filipino military professor involved in the repatriation of the items said Tuesday.