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

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.

This after the US government expressed its intention to return the bells taken by its troops as "war booty" during the Philippine-American war.

• US defense chief backs return of Balangiga bells to PH

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.

"Isa lang ng kinuha ng mga Amerikano eh, hindi naman tatlo (The Americans only took one bell, not three)," he told reporters in a forum in Quezon City, adding that the bells on display in Wyoming are not authentic.

"One of the bells which were rang on the memorable day of the battle were taken by the Americans to the United states," he added, quoting from a memoir by his grandfather written in 1933.

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.

He added that American soldiers took thousands of bells from different Philippine towns they invaded during the war as a matter of policy.

"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 'yung bell na ibibigay sa 'tin (if the bell they intend to return is authentic)," Daza added.

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.

'Balangiga massacre' from the Filipino perspective

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.

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.

Early in the morning, he continued, while the American troops were having breakfast, the revolutionaries attacked by surprise, killing dozens in the invaders' camp. The Filipinos lost a lot of men too.

"Hindi 'yan massacre (It was not a massacre). Out of 43 Americans who died, more than 30 Filipinos also died. It was a battle," said Daza, whose grandfather was among leaders who planned the attack.

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 "turn it into a howling wilderness."

"Every able-bodied male 9 or 10 above were killed," Ramos, who teaches history at the Far Eastern University, told ABS-CBN News in a separate interview.

"Sa Philippine perspective 'yun ang massacre (In the Philippine perspective, that's a massacre)."

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.

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.

"Isang historical thorn sa PH-US relations ay mabubunot (This will get rid of a historical thorn in PH-US relations)."

For Daza, the Balangiga incident should always be remembered as a victory of the Filipino resistance in Samar.

"It gives us pride, puwede pala nating matalo ang isang superpower (we can defeat a superpower)."

'Balangiga: Howling Wilderness'

"Balangiga: Howling Wilderness," a movie about this episode in Philippine history, will screen as part of the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino beginning Wednesday.

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.

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.

The film, which tells the saga of 8-year-old Kulas escaping the "kill and burn" order in Samar with his grandfather and their carabao, won accolades in the Famas, Gawad Urian, and QCinema awards.