Retired US Air Force officer Dennis Wright, who had worked for the return of the historic bell, said the Bauang bell was flown via Fedex to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) instead of this freeport as initially planned, as using a commercial freight service was more economical.
Wright told Punto in a telephone interview that as of yesterday, the bell was at the custody of the Bureau of Customs for required processing but that he expected it to be delivered to him here before Monday for welcome rites in Bauang.
“I have visited Bauang several times in preparation for the return of the bell. Up to Sunday, folk there would be preparing the mount for the bell in time for its arrival on Monday for a proper Mass to be attended by local dignitaries and other folk,” he said.
Wright said that when he first went to Bauangi n line with his project for the return of the bell, he found out that most local folk were not even aware that such bell existed, much less the bell’s role in their history.
Reports from the office of Bauang Mayor Martin De Guzman disclosed that the bell was transported from the West Point Community in New York, USA on April 30.
Before the bell’s shipment, a ceremony and Mass at West Point’s Most Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel were conducted attended by Philippine consulate officials and representatives of the United States government.
Myrna Romero, the town’s information officer, said the San Pedro bell, also known as the “Barry bell,” weighs around 400 kilos, is a long lost treasure of the Saints Peter and Paul Church of this town.
Romero said the return of the bell was facilitated by two US Navy veterans who are also working to return the Balangiga bells of Eastern Samar.
She said that Dennis Wright, one of the retired US servicemen, discussed the details on the return of the bell with Mayor de Guzman and Fr. Ronald Raymund Chan when he visited Bauang last year.
It was learned that the bell was taken by American soldier Thomas Barry in 1901, during the Philippine- American war. He gave it to the US Military Academy at West Point, which hang it outside the academy’s chapel.
Historical records show that in 1883, Gobernadorcillo Mariano Balancio, who became a mayor of Bauang and Lt. DD. Hilario Calica gave the bell to Father Mariano Garcia, who was then Parish Priest of San Pedro from November 1872 to July 25, 1876.
The bell was almost destroyed during the Philippine revolution but the advance of American forces prevented it and other bells in the Philippines from being melted down and made into guns and other war ammunitions. The bell was made from alloy of gold silver and copper.
