File #: Res 1197-2005    Version: * Name: Support of H. Res. 313, which urges the President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells taken from the town of Balangiga on the island of Samar, Philippines in 1901.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 10/11/2005
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution in support of H. Res. 313, which urges the President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells taken from the town of Balangiga on the island of Samar, Philippines in 1901, and currently displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, to the people of the Philippines.
Sponsors: Helen Sears, Charles Barron, John C. Liu, David I. Weprin, Robert Jackson
Council Member Sponsors: 5

Res. No. 1197

 

Resolution in support of H. Res. 313, which urges the President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells taken from the town of Balangiga on the island of Samar, Philippines in 1901, and currently displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, to the people of the Philippines.

 

By Council Members Sears, Barron, Liu, Weprin and Jackson

 

Whereas, The United States of America and the citizens of the Republic of the

 

Philippines have shared historic and political ties since the island was ceded to United

 

States by Spain at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898; and 

 

Whereas, After the United States acquired the Philippines, armed conflict

 

occurred between American Forces and the Filipinos that resulted in the Philippine-

 

American War, which was fought between 1899 and 1902; and

 

Whereas, During one of the battles of the Philippine-American War that took

 

place in the Town of Balangiga on the island of Samar on September 28, 1901, the

 

town’s church bells were rung in order to signal to the Filipinos that an attack against the

 

American Forces had begun; and

 

Whereas, During the battle in the Town of Balangiga, members of the United

 

States Armed Forces confiscated the church bells and brought them to the United States

 

as war trophies; and

 

Whereas, The church bells of Balangiga are currently located at the F.E. Warren

 

Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and

 

Whereas, Representative Robert Filner has recently introduced H. Res. 313,

 

which urges the President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells taken

 

from the town of Balangiga back to the people of the Philippines; and

 

Whereas, According to H. Res. 313, the church bells of Balangiga should more

 

properly serve as a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the United States and

 

the Philippines and not the conflict that occurred during the Philippine-American War;

 

and

 

Whereas, According to H. Res. 313, the United States holds supportable legal

 

title to the bells recognizable under international law and the United States government

 

has final disposition over the church bells of Balangiga; and

 

Whereas, According to H. Res. 313, the Republic of the Philippines has

 

repeatedly requested the return of the church bells; and

 

Whereas, According to H. Res. 313, a proposal has been put forth that provides a

 

means for both countries to mutually share in the heritage that the church bells of

 

Balangiga represent, enabling both countries to retain an original and a duplicate bell; and

                     

Whereas, The United States is home to a large Philippine population, who have

 

made many contributions to the economic and cultural viability of our nation and our

 

City; now, therefore, be it

 

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports H. Res. 313, which

 

urges the President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells taken from

 

the town of Balangiga on the island of Samar, Philippines in 1901, and currently

 

displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, to the people of the Philippines.

 

 

 

 

LS#

10/5/2005

RB/RA