A pair of church bells, war booty from the Philippine-American war at the turn of the 20th century, have finally been returned to the Philippines.
Meycauyan Bells, Philippine Inquirer 20120309
2 church bells taken by Americans turned over to National Museum
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 09 March 2012
Century-old plundered church bells returned to Philippines
Xinhua, via Philstar.com, 10 March 2012
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Friday turned over to the National Museum a Philippine-American war artifact consisting of two church bells, reportedly taken by American troops from a church in Meycauayan, Bulacan in 1899.
The two bells are connected by a hard block of dark wood with a handle on top.
An inscription attached to the wooden block of the bells reads: “Taken from the Church at MEYCAUAYAN, Luczon (sic) Islands after bombardment by Utah Battery March 29, 1899. By P.O. Thomas, Co. A Batallion of Engineers.”The artifact is approxmately 10 inches long on each side and about 3.5 inches wide. It is estimated to weigh five pounds.
Full story here.