The historic Balangiga bells are back in the Philippines after 117 years.

The Balangiga bells are three church bells which had been taken by the United States Army from the Church of San Lorenzo de Martir in Balangiga, Eastern Samar, Philippines as war trophies after reprisals following the Balangiga massacre in 1901 during the Philippine-American War.

The bells’ homecoming is an opportunity to revisit forgotten places, literal and figurative, in Philippine history. It is high time that Samar be brought front and center in our discussion of historical patrimony

The Balangiga massacre was an incident in 1901 in the town of the same name during the Philippine–American War. It 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 United States Army's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

In reprisal, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and that any Filipino male above ten years of age capable of bearing arms be shot. From the burned-out Catholic town church, the Americans looted three bells which they took back to the United States as war booty.

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Balangiga Church at San Lorenzo St. Balangiga, Eastern Samar