Reminiscing Balangiga Massacre: Duterte’s way of accenting US’ hypocrisy?

“The Balangiga Massacre incident is rarely tackled in Philippine history courses. For Duterte to mention it in his second SONA shows his utter fearlessness and his burning desire to teach Filipinos about the hypocrisy of the US when it criticizes developing countries such as the Philippines over its human rights record.”

That was the claim of Getsy Tiglao, a distinguished socio-political critic and a blatant supporter of Duterte, enclosed in a particular Facebook post shared and reposted by Eric Clark Su, an award-winning essayist and writer.

According to Tiglao’s post, Duterte has proven himself to be a true, patriotic, and nationalistic leader by bringing up the unfortunate carnage in the Samar province during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“No other Philippine President has done more to teach history to Filipinos than President Rodrigo Duterte. In his second State-of-the-Nation Address, Duterte confronted one of the most tragic episodes in our country’s history, the Balangiga massacre of thousands of Filipino civilians by invading American troops in 1901.”

Tiglao, then maneuvered her discussion into what had really happened during the Balangiga Massacre. Describing the tragic incident, Tiglao wrote:

“Oppressed [Eastern Samar] residents defended their town from the new foreign invaders, attacking the 9th US Infantry Regiment and killing 48 troops. Armed only with bolos compared with the rifles carried by the Americans, 28 Filipinos also died in that daring raid.”

President Duterte, in his SONA also touched on the topic and described to the hundreds of law-makers, government officials, and political figures, the long-forgotten historically significant incident.

“US gunboats and patrols were sent to Balangiga, Samar, with the order to ‘make a desert of Balangiga’ and to reduce Samar Island into an island of ‘howling wilderness,’ where every male citizen from the age of ten and above, and capable of bearing arms, would be put to death.” Duterte claimed in his SONA.

Tiglao claimed that more or less 50,000 Filipinos were killed and slaughtered by the “frustrated” and “humiliated” Americans in the 1901 massacre.

“While Americans tried to portray the Filipinos’ initial act as the “massacre,” the real carnage was the monstrous retaliatory act by the United States military. As many as 50,000 Filipinos were killed by the Americans in Balangiga and in the rest of Samar, an indiscriminate killing spree after they were humiliated by poorly armed Filipino revolutionaries.” Tiglao wrote.

The so-called “killing spree” came upon the order of Army General Jacob Hurd Smith who, according to historical archives, gave a detailed punitive action among American soldiers.

 “I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me. Samar must be made a howling wilderness so that not even the birds could live there.” Smith ordered.

As “war booty”, the American soldiers brought with them the two Balangiga bells which, until now remains to be under the possession of the US military.

“One in their base in South Korea, and two others at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The US military considers them as spoils of war.” Tiglao stated.

Meanwhile, President Duterte mentioned in his SONA that he wants the Balangiga Bells be brought back to its original owners, the Philippines. Considering the bell as part of the Philippines’ national heritage, Duterte said in his speech that:

“Those bells are reminders of the gallantry and heroism of our forebears who resisted the American colonizers and sacrificed their lives in the process… That is why I say today; give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,” claimed Duterte.

“Isauli naman ninyo. Masakit ‘yun sa amin.” Duterte added, making a blatant appeal to the US military.

Concluding her post, Tiglao emphasized the value of history in cultivating nationalism among the Filipino citizenry. As how she had enede her post, Tiglao conclusively wrote that:

“Learning history is a crucial element in nation-building. Without it the country’s citizens, especially the young, will be lost in the sea of globalization and no one will be left to steer the ship into a nationalist direction. Filipinos need these historical anchors to be able to transition successfully into a truly independent country.” Tiglao concluded.

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Source: Facebook