The principal reason some veteran groups in the United States have refused to return the Balangiga bells is that the bells were taken as war booty which is allowed by the customs of war. As they say, in war, the victors get to write the history.
The victors can also plunder the vanquished and take whatever they want as war booty. The customs that have developed in war is indeed harsh to the defeated. When Rome finally defeated Carthage, the Romans leveled the city to the ground, spread salt on the land and Carthage never rose again.
But the customs of warfare have changed. During the Second World War the Nazis looted many valuable art and cultural treasures in countries they conquered. Later, the thievery was deemed illegal and these items were returned to their rightful owners by those individuals and governments who took them.
The bells of Balangiga, Samar are the same and should be returned. The Bells are not only religious artifacts but cultural as well. The continued objections of certain veteran groups in Wyoming is therefore misplaced and Secretary Mattis’ announcement that the Defence Department intends to return the bells is just righting a wrong done over a hundred years ago.
This is not only because of the subsequent events that took place after the so-called “massacre” if it is was indeed a massacre. In today’s laws covering warfare, there is really no justification in keeping those three bells. The claim of war booty is no longer a tenable reason because of the many legal decisions that required possessors of stolen artifacts whether private persons or governments to return stolen valuable items to rightful owners.
The Americans took three bells from the Balangiga Catholic Church as a result of the death of about 54 soldiers belonging to Company C of the 9th US Infantry Regiment on Sept 28, 1901 when attacked by Filipino forces while the US soldiers were having breakfast. The actual number of casualties differ depending on the report that one reads. Some records mention 45 while others mention 52 or 54. The Filipino forces also captured about 100 rifles and ammunitions. As usual, the Americans labelled these attack as a massacre and Brig General Jacob Smith who was in Command of the US troops in the area that included Samar, ordered Major Littleton Waller to kill everyone capable of bearing arms against the United States. When Waller asked for the age limit, Smith said ten years old and above.
Smith’s exact orders to Waller was; “I want no prisoners, I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me.” He wanted Samar to become a howling wilderness.
As a result of his orders, thousands were killed. A British researcher in 1990 estimated that about 2,500 people were killed together with the destruction of 255 dwellings and the slaughter of 13 carabaos. All these were certainly conservative estimates of the destruction done after the Balangiga incident. Filipino historians come up with a much-higher estimate of about 50,000 the people killed and properties destroyed. The story did not end there. The incident was hidden from the American public for about six months. It was only on March 1902, during the court-martial of Major Littleton Waller on an entirely unrelated offense that the Balangiga atrocities became known to the American public. The court martial of Waller was not because of the murder of thousands of innocent Filipino non-combatants but because Waller ordered the killing of eleven Filipinos that the Americans were using as helpers. During the trial, he revealed the order of Smith forcing the American authorities to institute court-martial proceedings against Smith. Had Smith not been called to give testimony in Waller’s trial, the Balangiga massacre of Filipino non-combatants would never have been made public. But the charge against Smith is one for the books. The charge was not against the murder of thousands of Filipinos but simply for “conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.”
As a punishment, he was admonished and was subsequently retired from the US Army with no additional subsequent punishment. Such was the value of Filipino life as seen in the eyes of the Americans during that period. Today, what Smith did would fall under crimes against humanity. The world had to wait until the end of the Second World War to recognize crimes against humanity. Smith was retired with all his benefits intact and furthermore, was allowed to be buried at the Arlington military cemetery in Washington D.C. when he died. US officials criticize Japanese officials when they visit the controversial Nakasone while it is perfectly alright to bury someone like Smith at the Arlington cemetery. Even with the announcement of Secretary Mattis, some US veteran groups are still resisting the return of the bells. Two of the bells are in F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne while the other is at the 9th Infantry Regiment base in Camp Red Cloud in South Korea.
The Balangiga encounter which the Americans was a legitimate military operation where the Americans were caught unprepared. There were no guards and perimeter security while the rest of the company were having breakfast. For that, thousands of Filipino non-combatants paid with their lives.
The words of Secretary Mattis that his department intends to return the Balangiga bells is therefore very encouraging. If it will indeed happen, it will right a wrong committed over a hundred years ago and make the people of Balangiga, Samar extremely happy who after all this time never replaced the three bells of their parish Catholic Church.