JOEY A. GABIETA
w/ report ROEL T. AMAZONA

BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar- President Rodrigo Duterte may have demanded for the United States to return the historic bells of this town but he himself admitted that it might take years for it to be realized.
He, nonetheless, issued an appeal to the US Congress to grant President Donald Trump the authority for the eventual return of the bells taken 116 years ago by the Americans during a bloody war.
Pres. Duterte was the guest of honor as the town commemorated on Thursday the seizure of their bells by the American soldiers on Sept. 28, 1901 that resulted for the death of thousands of men, women, and children and made Balangiga and the entire province into a ‘howling wilderness.’
Due to lack of time, the President was not able to witness the reenactment of the historic event held at the Balangiga Central Elementary School considered the worst single defeat suffered by the Americans during their occupation of the Philippines.
The President arrived at the town at 4:11 pm and proceeded to the Balangiga Encounter Monument and Memorial Library where he offered a wreath and bowed his head before local hero Captain Valeriano Abandor.
He then proceeded to the town gymnasium where he delivered his hour-long speech attended by local officials, government workers, students and descendants of those who were killed during the bloody encounter.
“I hope the Congress of America will give Pres. Trump the authority to return the bell…we will be happy,” Mr.Duterte said.
He, however, said that with the opposition from the American veterans and the long process it would take, the eventual return of the bells “may take in 2050.”
The residents of Balangiga, in particular, have been seeking for the return of their bells and be placed once again at their church belfry.
Mr.Duterte during this state of the nation address last July, demanded that the Balangiga bells be returned to the country, an effort made previously by the Philippine government but with no success.
The President during his speech at the anniversary program, said that he was “advised” by the Department of Foreign Affairs not to issue any incendiary statement against the US government as it tries to recover the bells now placed at F. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, in Wyoming.
“I was under advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs that I should temper my language and I should avoid magmura (curse),” he said.
Mr.Duterte is known to use profanities during his speeches and interviews to stress his point. And during his speech, he still managed to lace it with profanities in several instances.
He said that his visit to Balangiga is his way to show his deep respect for the bravery of the locals who fought with the Americans 116 years ago.
He added that their acts were driven of their desire not to be conquered by any foreign nations.
“Ayaw nila ng dayuhan. Ayaw natin ng dayuhan,” he said.
During his speech, he said that he plans to confer the descendants of the patriots of the Order of Lapu-Lapu, an honor he recently created named after local hero from Cebu.
Mr.Duterte, who left the town at around 5.45 pm, was not able to attend the reenactment.
Contesa Amano, a local teacher and part of the participants, said that while they understand the reason why President could not attend, they were still disappointed.
“By watching the play, he could appreciate more what happened here 116 years ago and of course, the children will just be happy to perform before the President,” she said.
For Angel Duran, 22, while the return of the bells may not happen in the near future, the mere effort of Mr.Duterte for their return is already a reassuring gesture from the government.
“But we hope it will happen in our lifetime,” she said.
Duran’s ancestors were among killed on that encounter.
Mr.Duterte is the first President to attend the annual activity since Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2008.
Pres.Duterte was welcomed by local officials led by Eastern Samar Rep.Ben Evardone, acting Governor Ferdinand Marcelo Picardal and town mayor Randy Graza.
Joining the President were Sec.Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, Ilocos Norte Gov.Imee Marcos and her cousin, former Leyte congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
There was no explanation given why Marcos and Romualdez were with the President. The two are considered as political allies of the President. (w/ report EMILY MONTALLANA, LNU Student Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY – The highly-urbanized city of Tacloban played host of the 16th National Vegetable Congress that opened on September 27 and ended on 29.
Jointly organized by the Philippine Vegetable Industry Development Board, the Department of Agriculture and city government of Tacloban through Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez, the event gathered stakeholders in the vegetable industry from all over the country.
Coinciding with the three-day event was an expo at the Tacloban City Convention Center (Astrodome) grounds participated by 20 exhibitors from local government units, farmer’s organizations, food processors, and handicraft manufacturers.
The event which carried the theme “Gearing up the Nation’s Vegetable Industry towards Global Competitiveness and Resiliency,” tackled emerging challenges in the vegetable industry as well as highlight best practices in vegetable production, post-harvest, and marketing.
Among the topics discussed during the various plenary sessions were high-value crops development program; Philippine Guarantee System and gap on fruit and vegetable; latest trends in post-harvest handling, packaging of vegetable, and mechanization; climate-smart vegetable production for global competitiveness and resiliency; and the program for unified lending in agriculture (PUNLA): An Agricultural Financing Scheme.
The opening activities and plenary sessions were held at the Astrodome.
Mayor Romualdez and Leyte 1st district Representative Yedda K. Romualdez delivered the welcome and inspirational messages during the opening program.
Meantime, Director Jennifer Remoquillo, national program coordinator of the High-Value Crops Development Program, delivered the keynote speech on behalf of Agriculture Sec. Emmanuel Piñol.
A fellowship night, featuring local artists was sponsored by the city government for the delegates at the astrodome.
(HENRY JAMES G. ROCA/CIO)

TACLOBAN CITY- Students and members of militant groups staged their protest here in the city demanding for the return of the Balangiga Bells now in possession of the American government.
The rally staged by the students from the University of the Philippines-Tacloban Campus and the Bayan Sinirangan Bisayas coincided with the 116th anniversary of the Balangiga encounter on Thursday (September 28).
President Rodrigo Duterte, who served as the main guest in this year’s commemorative program, has again issued his call for the return of the bells taken away by the American soldiers on September 28,1901.
The bells are currently placed at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming while another one is displayed at the traveling museum of the 9th US Infantry based in South Korea.
Joshua Sagdullas, a UP student and spokesperson of Bayan, said that aside for their call for the return of the Balangiga Bells, their rally, attended by around 600 people, was also staged to express their desire for the United States stop its intervention in the Philippines’ internal affairs.
“We condemn the US for resisting the return of the bells which shows how the US does not consider the murder of the 50,000 as a war crime and that we must also condemn the continued US militarization in the Philippines especially in the Mindanao right now,” Sagdullas said.
The American government has aided the country’s military campaign to oust the terror Maute group’s occupation of Marawi City. (JAZMIN BONIFACIO)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) declared as drug-free 17 barangays of Mahaplag town in Leyte.
The declaration, made on September 25 in a simple ceremony, could now make Mahaplag as the first town in Leyte to be declared as a drug-free municipality, said Alex Tablate, chief of PDEA-8’s operations division.
Mahaplag has 28 barangays wherein only 17 of its villages have been tagged by PDEA as drug-influenced areas.
“As of now, we are waiting for the documentary requirements which must be submitted by the unaffected barangays in order for Mahaplag to be declared as a drug-free municipality,”Tablate said.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks, we can declare Mahaplag as the first drug-free municipality in the province of Leyte,” he added.
Once the documentary requirements as required under the Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3 are met, the members of an oversight committee composed of the PDEA, Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government and other agencies will convene to declare Mahaplag as a drug-free municipality.
Tablate said that Mahaplag and their police were very supportive in the implementation of their barangay drug clearing operations reason why they did not encounter any difficulties in validating the villages whether they are drug influenced or not.
However, if a drug personality will be arrested in a barangay declared as drug-free, it will be given 30 days to act upon the reported illegal drug activities so that this will not affect the declaration of their municipality as drug-free, Tablate said.
Under the DDB Regulation No. 3 series of 2017, barangays were given the full responsibility to maintain their areas as drug-free villages but with the assistance of PDEA, PNP and other stakeholders.
The PDEA had earlier declared as drug-free the towns of General McArthur and Maslog, both in Eastern Samar and Limasawa, Southern Leyte.
(RYAN GABRIEL LLOSA ARCENAS)