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It was on February 18, 1945 when USS Panay had her final journey towards the Philippine sea. Her mission was to carry the needed military supplies for the combined US Army and Filipino soldiers fighting desperately against the more equipped and numerous Japanese soldiers significantly gaining control over  the strategic points around Negros Islands.

Today the USS Panay lie in state beneath the Maricalum Bay, around 30 meters below, after it was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine intercepting her final voyage. What remains the warship, which has transformed into a coral-like structure, after more than fifty years in state under water, are the corroded metals and some war equipments which could still be found within the structure, except the ship’s master bell, which is on display at the Sipalay Police Station. The bell is made up of pure brass metal and around 24 inches in diameter,  still humbly hanging outside the police station today; for those who understand its historical value, it symbolizes the furious war, between two giants, fought in a strange territory. For America, the abandoned  bell is a symbol of her political defeat in the pacific. Reason, maybe, why up to this moment no effort has been made by the US authority to recapture that said bell.

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On the contrast, up to this writing, the Philippine government is still negotiating for the return of the most historic “Balangiga Bell”, which is still on display at US museum as war memorabilia. During the heyday of the Filipino-American war, a platoon size of American soldiers were ambushed by a ragtag and  ill-equipped Filipino guerrillas, wiping out the entire marauding American soldiers. On their desperation, the American soldiers ransacked the entire Balangiga village, where the ambush was made, and killed innocent civilians even tossing infants on the air with their bayonets, a tale of American barbarism yet unknown to many.

After attacking the village, the American soldiers took away the church bell. The bell has become the living  witness on how such atrocities were made against the people of Balangiga.

For the Filipinos, especially the Balangiga folks, the church bell is of high significance. It serves as a warning tool for the people’s day-to-day chores, be it religious or otherwise. Recapturing the Balangiga bell from the US means an honor vindicated for the Balangiga folks after decades of shame and horror brought by the memories of war. For the Filipinos,the Balangiga Bell symbolizes national pride and victory; while for the Americans the bell of the sunken USS Panay, symbolizes shame and defeat.