The formidable San Pedro Bell of the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Bauang, La Union, was taken by US forces during the Philippine-American War. In 1915, it was installed at West Point’s Most Holy Trinity Chapel in New York, where it stayed until retired US Navy Captain Dennis Wright and his team started the process to have it returned to its rightful place.
The San Pedro Bell was given a festive welcome by the Catholics of Bauang on Mon morning, May 23.
The “discovery” of the San Pedro Bell at West Point was happened by accident.
Wright and his team were actually working on the return of the Balangiga Bells (more on them later in the story) and the restoration of the Philippine-US cemetery in Clark, Pampanga, when he got wind of the story that the San Pedro Bell was also taken by U.S. soldiers as war booty.
After conducting personal interviews with local church and community leaders, Wright further researched into the records and confirmed that the bell at West Point was actually the one taken from the Bauang Church.
The San Pedro Bell weighs around 400 kilograms and is an alloy of gold, silver and copper. Researchers said it was prevented from being melted down into guns and war ammunitions was transported to the US during the Philippine Revolution as “war booty.”
Wright explained, “The San Pedro Bell with encryptions like an Augustinian cross, the words San Pedro, the year 1883, Bauang, parish priest Fr. Mariano Garcia 1887-1867, and donors Gov. Mariano Balancio and Hilario Garcia, were enough proof that the same bell kept in the West Point Military Academy in New York is the long lost bell of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish.”
On Thu, Apr 29 this year, the bell was last rung in a send-off ceremony at the West Point and was finally shipped backed to the Philippines.
Bishop Rodolfo Beltran of the Diocese of La Union said in his homily, “(The bell) is a symbol of unity for the people, its historical value is precious not only to the Catholics and religious but to the people as well.” The bell was mounted in its place below the belfry at the Church’s facade.
Meanwhile, the Balangiga Bells — which were taken from the Church of San Lorenzo the Martyr in Balangiga, Eastern Samar during the same war — have not yet been returned. Two of the Balangiga Bells are F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, while the third Balangiga Bell is at the 9th US Infantry Regiment’s station in Korea, Camp Red Cloud.
In an NBC News report, Dan McKinnon, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and military historian, remarked, “Church bells are not wartime souvenirs.” He added, “There are additional bells in the United States brought to our country from the Philippines at the end of the Philippine-American war in violation of Army regulations. It is my fervent hope that they will someday be returned to their country. Americans have returned religious bells taken in conflict back to Japan, Russia, Germany, and the Christian churches of Europe. It is what Americans do, the right thing to do.” with a report from Philippine Information Agency
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