Balangiga Incident is a Sad Part of Philippine History

BALANGIGA INCIDENT

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Catholic bishops welcomed the return of the three Balangiga church bells taken by the US soldiers as war booty more than a century ago. The return of the bells is an opportunity to understand history better with a “mature perspective”. It also demonstrates that the path to healing and reconciliation may be arduous but is never impossible.

The bells were flown home to Manila Tuesday, four months after the US decided to return the church artifacts. The bells were officially turned over by US ambassador Sung Kim to the Philippine government led by Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana in a ceremony held at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. The church bells were taken by the US forces as war trophies in the aftermath of the Balangiga massacre during the Philippine-American War in 1901. The bells were rung to signal an attack by native bolo fighters that almost wiped out US soldiers. It was said to be the worst single defeat of the US army during the war at the turn of the century.

It was followed by the deaths of thousands of Balangiga residents, mostly civilians 10 years old and above, when the American soldiers retaliated with a “kill-and-burn” policy. One of the bells was kept in the US military base in South Korea while the two others were brought to an air base in Wyoming. After 117 years, the bells shall now be returned to their rightful place in the Parish of St. Lawrence the Martyr in Balangiga. It’s a “priceless religious treasure”, considering the bells’ value to the history of the Church in the country. Read More: http://www.filcatholic.org/bishops-see-return-of-balangiga-bells-as-path-to-healing/

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The Balangiga massacre, also called the Balangiga incident or Balangiga conflict, took place in Balangiga in 1901 during the Philippine–American War. The terms initially referred to the killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry by the townspeople allegedly augmented by guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island during an attack on September 28 of that year. This incident was described as the worst massacre of United States Army soldiers since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

The attack and the subsequent retaliation remains one of the longest-running and most controversial issues between the Philippines and the United States. Conflicting records from American and Filipino historians have confused the issue. According to some Filipino historians, such as Teodoro Agoncillo, the true “Balangiga massacre” was the subsequent retaliation against the Samar population and guerrillas when American soldiers burned whole towns during the March across Samar. Read More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangiga_massacre

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The Balangiga Massacre was one of the bloodiest events during the Philippine-American War.

To this day, the United States considers this as their “worst single defeat” in the history of the 3-year war from 1899 to 1902. The Philippines has also not forgotten.

Republic Act 6692 enacted on February 10, 1989, declared September 28 of every year as “Balangiga Encounter Day,” a special non-working holiday in Eastern Samar to commemorate the uprising of fellow Filipinos and to honor the gallantry of those killed.

In 2008, however, Malacañang issued Proclamation No. 1629 moving the commemoration of Balangiga Encounter Day that year to September 30. The provincial government had requested this, since September 28, 2008, fell on a Sunday. Eastern Samar officials believed the province and its people would be given the “full opportunity” to observe the occasion if it were held on September 30, 2008, a Tuesday. Read More: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/212969-things-to-know-balangiga-massacre