US Embassy vows to find resolution to Balangiga bells issue

The US Embassy in Manila on Tuesday vowed to solve the issue on the Balangiga bells seized by the Americans more than a century ago.

"We are aware that the Bells of Balangiga have deep significance for a number of people, both in the United States and in the Philippines. We will continue to work with our Filipino partners to find a resolution," US Embassy spokesperson Molly Koscina said in a statement.

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte, in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), demanded from the United States the return of the bells

Duterte said the Balangiga bells represented the heroism of Filipinos who resisted the Americans.

"The church bells of Balangiga were seized by the Americans as spoils of war," Duterte said.

"Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage. Isauli naman ninyo. Masakit 'yun sa amin," he added.

Two of the three Balangiga bells are displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

They are part of a memorial to 46 US troops killed by Filipino insurgents in 1901.

A third bell is with a US Army regiment in South Korea. —Anna Felicia Bajo and Michaela del Callar/KG, GMA News