Duterte joins 116th Balangiga commemoration

MALACAÑANG YESTERDAY welcomed congressional support to the call for the US to return the bells taken as spoils of war as President Rodrigo R. Duterte joined the commemoration of the 116^th anniversary of the Balangiga Encounter in Eastern Samar. “We welcome the House Resolution 1337 expressing support for the President’s appeal to the United States,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said in a press briefing. Mr. Duterte, in his 2^nd State of the Nation Address last July, demanded the return of the bells as it is important to “our national heritage.” US Ambassador Sung Kim later said that returning the bells is “the right thing to do.” — Rosemarie A. Zamora