VICE President Jejomar Binay expressed optimism that the US Congress will decide favorably on a pending resolution returning the Balangiga Bells to the Philippines.

“Through the years there have been dialogues between independent bodies and the governments of the two nations, in hopes of arriving at an equitable solution to the issue,” Binay said in a letter to US Ambassador Harry Thomas.

“Since both parties, it would seem, have reached a consensus to return the Bells to our country but for the opposition of former Wyoming Gov. David Freudenthal, I am optimistic that the United States Congress shall soon decide the matter in our favor,” he added.

Aside from Freudenthal’s opposition, Binay noted that the return of the Bells is also hindered by an amendment to the US National Defense Authorization Act that bars “the return of veterans’ memorial objects to foreign nations without specific authorization in law.”

He urged that concerned parties seek all available avenues to resolve the matter.

He added that the two nations must heed the voice of the people in settling the issue.

“Since the Filipino populace, the Wyoming Veterans Council, and the [Roman] Catholic Church are considered as the major stakeholders in this issue, it would be safe to assume that the people’s voice calls for the return of the Bells to the Philippines,” he added.

The Balangiga Bells were taken by US forces as a war trophy in the aftermath of the Balangiga Massacre in Samar during the Philippine-American War.

Efforts to return the bells to the Philippines started in 1957 when Jesuit historian Fr. Horacio de la Costa requested the 13th Air Force in San Francisco, California, to repatriate the bells.

Meanwhile, the Balangiga Historical Society, through the National Historical Institute and the Department of Foreign Affairs, initiated formal government efforts in reacquiring the Bells in 1989.

The US Army took the three bells from the parish church of Balangiga, Eastern Samar in the Philippines as war booty after reprisals following the Balangiga incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War.

One Balangiga bell is with the 9th Infantry Regiment at Camp Red Cloud, in South Korea,while two others are on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.