The Balangiga bells on display during repatriation ceremony at Villamor Air Base.  Photo and caption: Wikipedia/U.S. Embassy

he Balangiga bells are back on Philippine soil. Taken by members of the U.S. 11th Infantry Regiment in reprisal for the surprise attack on their comrades in the 9th infantry Regiment, the bells had been gone from the town of Balangiga for 117 years.

For more than half a century, Filipinos had demanded that the bells be returned. Unfortunately, the Americans were just as adamant about keeping them. From the earliest request on record (Father Horacio de la Costa’s 1957 letter to the Thirteenth Air Force stationed then at Clark Air Force Base), to the latest (President Rodrigo Duterte’s comments during his 2017 State of the Nation Address, The United States repeatedly said no.

Although there were Americans even in the U.S. Congress like Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Case, and Bob Filner who wanted the bells returned, the bills they sponsored never gained any traction.

But everything changed in the last two years when China began creating artificial islands and asserting sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, and Duterte began cozying-up to Beijing. Americans woke up to the realization that China now posed a serious threat to their dominance in the Western Pacific, and that they needed every ally they could find.

Strategically located at the gateway to Southeast Asia from the Western Pacific, the Philippine archipelago would significantly complicate U.S. defense plans should it ally itself with China. Americans military planners must have calculated that holding on to three old bells is not worth the cost of providing China with a highly significant piece of real estate in the Western Pacific.

The Chinese realize this as well, although they believe they have Duterte deep in their pocket and can lead him around by the nose. This belief has made China’s less forthcoming with regards to their promised development assistance. However, if they should see the Philippines tilt towards the West, Chinese President Xi Jinping might finally open the floodgates and allow Chinese money to flow into the country.

The serendipity of the situation cannot be lost on Filipinos. If anything, the country finally got its bells back. But Filipinos need also take stock of the situation that caused it all to happen in the first place. The Philippines must begin taking more responsibility for its own defense. We Filipinos need to protect what is ours. We must to start building a serious military and be ready to use it if necessary. Otherwise, we might end up with 3 old bells, but lose islands and shoals that sit atop of billions of dollars worth of mineral resources. Now that would be worse. Published 12/12/2018