TACLOBAN CITY – The An Waray party-list Representative Florencio “Bem” Noel said that he supports the move to ask for the return of the Balangiga Bells that was taken by American soldiers as war booty after the deadly Balangiga encounter at the height of Philippine-American War.
The two bells, which was used to warn residents of Balangiga, Eastern Samar, were taken after the siege conducted by American forces as a retaliation against the locals who had killed around 70 American soldiers.
According to Noel, he had been supportive in the effort to retrieve the two bells which are presently display in Wyoming, USA and in an Army based in South Korea.
Noel added that during the incumbency of former Eastern Samar Representative Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan, they were among those who had been urging the Philippine government to ask the US government to grant their request to return the bells to the rightful owner, which is the townpeople of Balangiga.
Among the efforts which Libanan did, according to Noel, was he personally went to US to talk with officials of said country regarding the possibility of giving back the bells. However, nothing had happened about it.
Recently, Vice President Jejomar Binay had made a statement supporting the call for the return of the Balangiga bells.
However, the call to retrieve the Balangiga bells would be impossible at the moment, according to Binay, as the United States law mandates that any foreign nation properties or materials that were acquired by the US government before giving it to its original owners must be granted first by law.
No comments:
Post a Comment