Senator Edgardo J. Angara lamented the loss of irreplaceable national treasures like the Balangiga bells of Samar, and blamed “cultural neglect” for the continued defacement and destruction of invaluable cultural and historical heritage sites.

“Just as countries like Egypt and Greece are becoming more and more protective of their cultural treasures, demanding the return of artifacts like the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum and the Parthenon sculptures called Elgin Marbles from London, we should also put more effort into recovering the Balangiga bells which symbolize the heroism of Filipino soldiers,” he said.

The Balangiga bells are three church bells taken in 1901 by US forces from the town church of Balangiga in Samar as war booty. The Americans burned down the town after Filipino forces ambushed a US Infantry Regiment during the Philippine-American War, taking with them the bells. Despite attempts by several Philippine administrations to recover the bells, the American government insists they are US government property.

Angara further noted that “We have been guilty of cultural neglect.

We have painfully witnessed the defacement, if not complete destruction of buildings and other historically or artistically significant structures, bridges, parks and other public spaces. Churches have been unsystematically renovated, or relieved of precious materials such as beautifully wrought religious images of ivory and wood relleves, as well as silver frontals of altars,” he said.

He also lamented that many culturally and historically important structures have given way to modernization and commercialization.