from the 1999 commemorative program of the Balangiga Encounter Day.
A church belfry project worth P5-million, which also prettified the façade of the Balangiga church, was constructed in 1998. This was intended to house the Bells of Balangiga, the return of which from Wyoming in time for the Philippine Centennial celebration was actively sought by the Philippine government. A sharing formula (one original, one replica) was approved by the Wyoming legislature early in 1998, and there was some optimism that Pres. Fidel Ramos could take back the relics during his U.S. visit in April that year. However, a bill filed in the U.S. Senate by Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas on the eve of the presidential visit dashed this hope.
The belfry project was inaugurated, without the intended bells, during the 97th commemoration of the Balangiga Encounter Day on Sept. 28, 1998. The guest of honor was Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz Araneta.
A temporary marker was made for the occasion, the text of which reads as follows:
BALANGIGA CHURCH BELFRY
A Special Centennial Project of President Fidel V. Ramos, thru the efforts of CORD-VIII / Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Ernesto D. Garilao, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the / Department of Tourism, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the National Disaster / Coordinating Council, the National Centennial Commission, Msgr. Leonardo Y. Medroso, Fr. Jose / Manuel D. Lugay, Fr. Agustin T. Opalalique, Governor Lutgardo B. Barbo, Mayor Renato C. Anistoso.
This belfry awaits the return of the historic Bells of Balangiga [,] now being given due honor / in the United States of America. Let freedom ring once more from those bells, from the Belfry of / Balangiga where they originally belong, to punctuate America's generosity of spirit, / and the gallantry of our forebears, and complete the healing.
Balangiga, Eastern Samar
Comments
This marker is only temporary and not sanctioned by the National Historical Institute. Its text was painted in gold on blackened marine plywood, which was made to appear like a bronze plaque nailed on a concrete stand. This writer was requested to research and draft the text for the marker. He did so and appropriated (after asking permission) the concluding lines of the column article "Leyte and the Balangiga bells" of former Senator Rene A. V. Saguisag in a 1994 issue of The Manila Times. The text he drafted appeared in slightly altered form in the second paragraph of the inscription. Somebody else supplied the text of the first paragraph.