Return of Balangiga bells not due to any particular event, statement —US Embassy spox

The return of the Balangiga bells to the Philippines was a product of decades of work and not due to any particular event or statement, US Embassy in Manila spokesperson Molly Koscina said Monday.

"There are number of presidents, a number of secretaries [of Defense], a number of US and Philippine ambassadors who worked for the return of the Balangiga bells. It was decades worth of work and protest from the veterans, and the legal issues that came with it," Koscina said at a press briefing.

"It was not due to any particular event or statement," she added, referring to the return of the bells that were taken as war trophies over a century ago following gruesome clashes between American soldiers and Filipino guerrillas.

The bells are expected to arrive to the Philippines on Tuesday, December 11, 2018, two years after the assumption to power of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has delivered at least two strongly worded speeches calling on the US government to return the bells to the country.

Koscina was answering a query regarding impressions that the US government was forced to return the bells to the Philippines due to Duterte's scathing remarks against the US.

"People have worked for this for many, many years. It is time [to return the bells] and we are very proud that it is happening. It has been 117 years. As time passes, wounds also heal," she said.

"As [US Defense] Secretary [James] Mattis said, all wars must come to an end and it was just the right time [to return the bells]. This is an opportunity to close a chapter, and we are looking forward to the future of our enduring and important alliance."

She also said that the return was hampered by "legal hurdles that had to be overcome," referring to laws such as the National Defense Authorization Act, which prevents the US government from returning war memorial objects, and the National Defense Appropriations Act, which mandates the US government to make a 90-day window in case there would be a concern against the return of the bells.

The National Defense Authorization Act expired last September.

According to Koscina, the meeting between Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Mattis in October last year was pivotal for the return of the Balangiga bells.

"The breakthrough is Secretary Mattis and Lorenzana’s meeting in October," she said.

"Of course, the bells came up in that meeting. That same day, Secretary Mattis met with President Duterte, and he (Mattis) committed that it is his personal intent to do all he could do to return the bells."

Back in September 28, 1901, Filipino guerrillas stormed the 9th US Infantry Regiment, killing 48 American soldiers. The Americans retaliated by attacking Eastern Samar towns, sending males aged 10 years and above to prison and taking the Balangiga bells as war booty.

The Americans, however, later fought side-by-side Filipino soldiers to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation in 1945.

Since then, Manila has inked at least three military agreements with Washington: the 1951 Mutual Defense Agreement, the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement inked in February 2016.

Koscina said that the three bells are now in US military base in Okinawa, Japan, and will be flown to Villamor Air Base in the Philippines by noon on December 11. The welcome ceremony will be attended by Duterte, Lorenzana, US Ambassador to Manila Sung Kim.

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Joe Felter will be accompanying the bells to Manila. —KBK, GMA News