MANILA – Due to “persistent requests from the people of Eastern Samar,” President Rodrigo Duterte will attend the scheduled ceremonial turnover of the Bells of Balangiga in Eastern Samar on Dec. 15.
“The President has made changes in his schedule of activities to join the Filipino community in welcoming the return of the bells,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement released Thursday.
“The bells symbolize the bravery and patriotism of the Filipinos who refused to be subjugated by a foreign power and shed blood to assert the sovereignty of our country,” he added.
Descendants of those who perished during the Filipino- American war rightfully cherish the coming home of a part of the national heritage, and the Filipino nation join them in rejoicing the historic event, said Panelo.
“As the Balangiga Bells resume their ringing after a silence of more than a century, the booming sounds that will come out of them will resonate around the world with the sterling message that foreign domination nor outside intrusion on its sovereignty has no place in this part of the world,” he said.
On Wednesday night Panelo said Duterte decided to skip the Balangiga bells turnover due to some “pressing matters of governance requiring his immediate attention.”
“The President considers that more important than his physical presence at a ceremonial turnover is the fact that after 117 years, the Balangiga bells have been returned to their origins where they properly belong,” Panelo earlier said.
Residents of Balangiga town and Roman Catholic leaders in Eastern Samar insist that the bells, which United States soldiers took as war booty during the Filipino-American war, were properties of the Church./PN
