With US Ambassador Sung Kim formally handing over the three Balangiga Bells, which were returned to the Philippines after 117 years, during a ceremony yesterday at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, the historic tokens were found to have a connection with Negros Oriental.

The bells, which were taken from a church in Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 1901 during the Philippine-American war, were first sought after in 1957 by Fr. Horacio Dela Costa, who wrote a letter to Chip Wards, then-command historian for the 13th Air Force.

The following year, American Franciscan priests based in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, which was a municipality at the time, echoed the call, claiming two of the bells were Franciscan in origin.

Following decades of requests, including negotiations between then-Philippine Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos and then-US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney in 1990.

In a GMA News report, US Embassy in Manila spokesperson Molly Koscina explained, after the National Defense Authorization Act, which prohibits the return of war memorial objects, expired last September, a meeting between current Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and US Defense Secretary James Mattis put the gears in motion for the bells’ return.

“The return of the Bells of Balangiga lets us reflect on the US-Philippine relationship – where we have been, where we are, where we are going,” said the ambassador during the ceremony. “Our relationship has withstood the tests of history and flourishes today.”/WDJ